Police identify British-born Westminster attacker as victim count rises to four

The attacker who ploughed a car through a crowd of pedestrians before stabbing a policeman outside Britain's parliament was named on Thursday as Khalid Masood, a British-born man who was once investigated by MI5 intelligence officers over concerns about violent extremism.

Masood, 52, was born as Adrian Russell Ajao in Kent and was shot dead by police.

The death toll from Wednesday's attack grew to five as police said one of the injured, 75-year-old Englishman Leslie Rhodes from Streatham, had died in hospital after his life support was withdrawn at King’s College Hospital.

According to Scotland Yard’s top anti-terror officer Mark Rowley, at least 50 people were injured with 31 requiring hospital treatment. Two people remain in a critical condition, with one considered to have life-threatening injuries.

Masood was described by police as a criminal with a 20-year record of offending, who had once been investigated for extremism but was assessed as low risk.

"Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack," the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

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

He is understood to have converted to Islam in prison, having spent time behind bars for violent crime.

His first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife. He had not been convicted of any terrorism offences, but police said he was known by a number of aliases.

He is thought to have had young children, although there were conflicting reports regarding how many. It is reported that some acquaintances said he had three, and some four.

As police search for any evidence of a wider conspiracy, eight people remain in custody after properties across the UK were raided, while a picture emerged of the killer’s apparently nomadic lifestyle.

On Thursday night, thousands of people gathered to commemorate the victims of the attack in Westminster, and to hear speeches by the capital’s mayor and other leaders aimed at preventing terrorism from spreading division and hatred.

The vigil in Trafalgar Square, central London, was held to honour the dead and injured, Sadiq Khan said, but also “to send a clear, clear, message – Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism”.

The attack was the deadliest in Britain since 2005, when 52 people were killed by Islamist suicide bombers on London's public transport system.

It followed a series of Islamist militant operations that have killed some 280 people in France, Belgium and Germany in just over two years, and marked the third occasion a lone attacker has used a vehicle as a weapon.

Terrorist group ISIS claimed responsibility in a statement issued by its Amaq news agency, but did not name Masood and gave no details. It was not clear whether the attacker was directly connected to the group.