'Joking' attacker Khalid Masood on WhatsApp before Westminster murders
It emerges the killer was a middle-aged father born in Kent on Christmas Day, as police make two "significant arrests".
Friday 24 March 2017 18:39, UK
Terrorist Khalid Masood was "joking" with hotel staff in the run-up to the attack - and used a phone messaging app seconds before striking. 聽
Masood was described as "very friendly" by the manager of Brighton's Preston Park Hotel, where he stayed the night before the attack.
"He was laughing and joking," Sabeur Toumi told Sky News, adding that Masood was chatty with staff.
His comments were echoed by guest Michael Petersen, a businessman, who saw Masood in reception on the morning of the attack.
"I noticed a very polite demeanour from the killer," Mr Petersen said.
"There's nothing in his conduct that would make me have suspicious thoughts towards him."
When asked how he felt about having met the terrorist, Mr Petersen replied: "I have been thinking about that since.
"The shocking realisation that you can stand next to somebody that is totally, perfectly normal.
"Articulate, polite, presentable - and the guy is on his way to commit mass murder.
"That means it could potentially be anyone you're standing next to. That is quite a shocking realisation."
The pair spoke as Sky learned that Masood had used the WhatsApp messaging service at 2.37pm on Wednesday.
He .
It is unclear whether he was communicating with somebody.
News of Masood's movements in the run-up to the murders came as police revealed there had been two new "significant arrests".
Scotland Yard's top anti-terror officer Mark Rowley said the two were held in the West Midlands and Manchester.
He also revealed that the full birth name of the attacker - who used many aliases - was Adrian Russell Ajao.
It is understood Ajao changed his name to Khalid Masood after reportedly having a religious conversion.
was one of its "soldiers" and "carried out the operation in answer to calls to target the people of coalition states."
According to a Sky source who met him in a professional capacity, he had a wife and three children.
The source described Masood as "a big bloke", adding: "He looked like he was a bodybuilder, (you) wouldn't want to mess with him."
He added that Masood was a "very religious, well-spoken man", who had "converted" to Islam.
"You couldn't go to his home in Birmingham on Friday because he would be at prayer," the source said.
According to reports Masood had previously worked as an English teacher, though not in any of England's state schools.
Some reports suggested he had spent four years in Saudi Arabia, leading to speculation he may have been radicalised there.
Police said Masood had been "known by a number of aliases", including Adrian Elms.
While he was born in Kent on Christmas Day 1964, detectives believe he had been living most recently in the West Midlands.
His name is also registered as living at addresses in Brighton, Eastbourne, Luton and London.
An old black and white photograph shows Masood as a schoolboy footballer at Huntley Secondary School for Boys in Tunbridge Wells.
A neighbour at his most recent address in Winson Green, Birmingham, said Masood was a keen gardener who had a wife and young child.
The neighbour said her experience of him was of a "nice man" and that he had moved away from the mews house three months ago.
Armed police with machine guns also raided a flat in another part of the city, storming the second-storey property in Hagley Road overnight.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said there was "no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack".
Masood "was not the subject of any current investigations", they said.
Nevertheless, "he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults"
These included convictions for GBH, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences, spanning 20 years from 1983.
According to a court report in 2000, he was jailed for two years for slashing a man's face with a knife.
The Brighton Argus reported that Masood, who stood trial as Adrian Elms, "left Piers Mott with a three-inch gash on his left cheek",
It required 20 stitches after an altercation with "racial overtones" outside a pub in Sussex, the paper reported.
Three years later, after leaving jail, Masood was accused of stabbing a man in the nose, leaving him needing cosmetic surgery.
He was jailed for another six months.
He has not been convicted for any terrorism offences, police confirmed.
Some of those Masood was involved with included people keen to travel to join jihadi groups overseas, a US government source said.
However, Masood "himself never did so", the source added.
Masood stayed in the Preston Park Hotel on the outskirts of Brighton on the night before the attack.
As he checked out, he reportedly told hotel staff he was "going to London", adding: "It isn't what it used to be."
Earlier, Theresa May said Masood was a "peripheral" figure who had once been investigated by MI5 over concerns about violent extremism.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd defended the security and intelligence agencies to Sky News, even though "one did get through".
She said: "The fact that he was known to them doesn't mean that somebody has 24-hour cover.
Mr Rowley said two people remain in hospital in a critical condition, one with life-threatening injuries.
Two police officers injured in the attack - which left five dead including the attacker - are also in hospital with "significant injuries".
In total nine people remain in custody, while London has twice the normal number of police officers on the streets, Mr Rowley said.
Several properties have been searched across the country, with 2,700 items seized so far.
Anyone with any information about Masood can call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline 0800 789 321.
:: Sky News will be showing a special programme - Terror In Westminster - at 7.30pm tonight