London terror attacker named as Khalid Masood

The man who murdered three people before he was shot dead by police in London has been named as Khalid Masood.

It has been confirmed that Masood, 52, was born in Kent and more recently lived in the West Midlands.

He had convictions for assaults including GBH, public order offences, and possession of offensive weapons. Masood was also known by a number of different aliases.

According to Sky News, Masood was an English teacher and religious convert. He is also thought to have three children.

A source who had met Masood told Sky he was “a big bloke, he looked like he was a bodybuilder, wouldn’t want to mess with him”.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said that Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack.

However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.

Masood was born in Kent on Christmas Day in 1964 and detectives believe he was most recently living in the West Midlands.

He was also known by a number of aliases.

Masood’s first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.

Earlier today Isis made its first public pronouncement since the atrocity, claiming in a statement: “The attacker yesterday in front of the British Parliament in London was a soldier of the Islamic State executing the operation in response to calls to target citizens of coalition nations.”

Commentators pointed out the terror group has a record of opportunistically claiming attacks and said it was significant the statement did not appear to claim it had directed the strike.

Yesterday, Masood ploughed into crowds on Westminster Bridge in a car, killing mother-of-two Aysha Frade, and American tourist Kurt Cochran, and injuring a further 29 people.

He then got out of the vehicle and ran round the corner to get into the ground of the Palace of Westminster, before stabbing police officer Keith Palmer to death.

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He was subsequently shot dead by police.

Describing Masood earlier today, prior to his identification, Prime Minister Theresa May said: ‘What I can confirm is that the man was British-born and that some years ago he was once investigated by MI5 in relation to concerns about violent extremism. He was a peripheral figure.

‘The case is historic. He was not part of the current intelligence picture. There was no prior intelligence of his intent or of the plot.’