THE LONDON Bridge attack mastermind was given a security job on the London Underground despite appearing on the TV show “The Jihadi Next Door”, an inquest heard today.
Khuram Butt, 27, landed the role at Southwark Tube station even though he had appeared in the documentary and had demonstrated with hate preacher Anjem Choudary.
On June 3 2017, he killed eight people and injured 48 more in a van and knife attack on London Bridge and Borough Market with Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22.
An inquest at The Old Bailey heard he was “like a lion out of a cage” in the company of convicted Islamic State supporter Choudary.
A friend said Butt became “energised” when he was with the charismatic leader of banned group ALM in the months before the attack.
And just two years before, a family member had reported him to an anti-terrorism hotline over concerns for his extremist views, the inquest heard.
The Old Bailey was told how the Pakistan-born terrorist turned from an “earnest and hard-working” schoolboy to an extremist who “brought shame” on his family by appearing on the show which aired in January 2016.
In the summer of that year he was employed by London Underground as a customer service assistant earning £23,000 a year.
The inquest was told he “conducted security searches” at the station and background checks did not flag up Butt’s involvement with the documentary.
The government is extreme, they have killed the most, strategically… When the war comes here and the airplanes come let’s see if you agree with the air strikes
Khuram Butt
He went off sick claiming the “company shoes were causing issues” and he was sacked in October 2016.
Jonathan Hough QC, counsel for the coroner, said: “His employment gave him access to a London Underground station in a security capacity?”
Acting Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley, who investigated the attacker’s background, replied: “Yes it did.”
The show was filmed in August 2015, it depicted Butt as a willing participant who “condemned the UK government”, particularly actions in Iraq and Syria, the inquest heard.
In a clip aired in court but not included in the programme, Butt ranted: “The government is extreme, they have killed the most, strategically…
“When the war comes here and the airplanes come let’s see if you agree with the air strikes.”
In September 2015, his brother-in-law Usman Darr reported Butt to the anti-terrorist hotline after he challenged him on his views on an IS execution of a pilot who was burned to death in a cage.
Before joining the London Underground, he had held various jobs at a domestic refuge, Top Shop, a Pizza restaurant and at a removal company.
Xavier Thomas, 45, Ignacio Echeverria, 39, Chrissy Archibald, 30, Sara Zelenak, 21, James McMullan, 32, Sebastien Belanger, 36, Kirsty Boden, 28, and Alexandre Pigeard, 36, all died in the attack on June 3, 2017.
A further 48 people were injured in the atrocity, which ended less than ten minutes later when the terrorists were shot dead by police near Borough Market.
The inquest into the eight deaths continues.
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