UK terrorist Masood came from quiet roots
Khalid Masood's death as a crazed extremist gunned down on Parliament's cobbles after slaughtering a policeman and three other innocent people was a far cry from his quiet Kent roots.
Revelations of the past come as Scotland Yard has released a mugshot of the adult killer, the grown man being far removed from the boy he was.
The keen schoolboy footballer grew into a troubled adult in and out of prison for a string of violent crimes, including slashing a man with a knife after a boozy pub row with "racial overtones".
Questions remain over where the man born as Adrian Russell Elms to a single mother in Dartford on Christmas Day 1964 was radicalised.
Reports suggest it could have been during one of his stints behind bars, while others point to time allegedly spent working in Saudi Arabia, home to some of the most virulent Islamic extremism.
Khalid Masood pictured (circled) in photo of the Huntleys Secondary School for Boys soccer team.
The 52-year-old's family moved around during his youth.
His mother Janet Elms is believed to have married Phillip Ajao in 1966, and the killer called himself Adrian Russell Ajao as one of his many identities over the years.
A childhood classmate of Masood described him as a popular pupil who "liked to party".
Scotland Yard released this adult photo of Khalid Masood.
Westminster ISIS-inspired jihadi as a student at Huntleys Secondary School in Kent.
Stuart Knight was in the same class as the then Adrian Ajao at Huntleys Secondary School for Boys in Tunbridge Wells for five years before they left in 1981.
"He was a very nice guy, down to earth, liked by everyone around him," Mr Knight said.
"There was nothing unassuming about him, he was a very good sportsman, his mother was a Christian, he was an all-round nice guy."
The driver was shot dead. Picture: 7 News
On hearing the news of his former classmate's actions in London, Mr Knight added: "I am really shocked. I spent five years in his class at school, for him it's totally out of character.
"I am in shock... I'm surprised he turned and did what he did."
Masood's criminal career dated back to 1983 and included convictions for assault, GBH and possession of an offensive weapon.
Anti-terror officer Mark Rowley of Scotland Yard said slain officer Keith Palmer had every right to expect to return home from his shift. Photo: AAP
This led him to spend time behind bars at Lewes Prison in East Sussex, Wayland Prison in Norfolk and Ford open prison in West Sussex.
One of his jail terms was a two-year stint for a fight in 2000 outside the Crown and Thistle in Northiam, near Rye in East Sussex that left a man needing 20 stitches in his face.
The report of the court case in the Brighton Argus said that Masood, who stood trial at Hove Crown Court as Adrian Elms, moved to the village "to give his family and himself a better and more tranquil way of life".
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Adrian Baker, 51, who has lived in Northiam for 25 years, told the Press Association on Friday that Elms was known as a "troubled" character.
"I'm gobsmacked. He didn't appear to be very religious. He would go into the local pubs," Baker said.
The Telegraph reported that Masood was jailed again three years later for stabbing another man.
(From left) PC Keith Palmer, Kurt Cochran and Aysha Frade all died in the attack.
Mother-of-two Aysha Frade. Picture: Facebook
He would later mask his life of crime with a CV which claimed he was an experienced English teacher who had worked across the world.
The document, seen by The Sun, lists Masood as a university-educated English teacher with experience working in places such as Saudi Arabia and Luton.
It is understood he never worked as a teacher in any of England's state schools.
At some point after his radicalisation he came to the attention of MI5, but only as a peripheral figure according to Prime Minister Theresa May.
The killer most recently appeared to be based in the West Midlands, but also spent time in London, Sussex and Luton.
After his armed onslaught on Wednesday, police searched a three-storey townhouse in the Winson Green area of Birmingham and neighbours said Masood lived there for around seven months, until December last year.
Masood is also thought to have lived in London, with a man of his name registered to an address in a terraced street in West Ham.
A remote farmhouse in Trelech, Carmarthenshire, thought to be his parents' home, was also searched by police.
