Khalid Masood: The Making Of A Killer

Last Tuesday, Khalid Masood checked into the £59-a-night Preston Park Hotel in Brighton.

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Staff found him to be friendly, jovial and chatty, said The Daily Telegraph; he had a kebab for dinner, and the next morning he told them that he was “off to London today”, as though he were going sightseeing. Hours later, he drove his rented Hyundai 4x4 across Westminster Bridge at speeds of up to 76mph, and – mounting the pavement – ploughed into dozens of pedestrians. Three were killed: Aysha Frade, 43, who worked at a local sixth-form college, US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, and retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75. Many more sustained horrific injuries. Seconds later, Masood crashed his car into the gates of Parliament, and jumped out and stabbed PC Keith Palmer to death, before police shot Masood dead, bringing an end to the worst terrorist attack on British soil since 2005.

“Almost immediately, an impossible task began,” said the FT: “trying to read a dead man’s mind.” As in the aftermath of similar attacks, a desperation to understand the motives of the killer led “to a frantic trawl of what scraps of biographical detail could be found”. Inevitably, these did not add up to a “clear portrait”. However, elements in his background chime with those of other Europeans who have turned to jihad – including long spells of delinquency, and jail time.