Khalid Masood took out two payday loans so he could continue to feed his addiction to Lotto scratch cards, it has been revealed. The jihadist was in debt and behind on tax payments when he carried out his heinous attack on Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
An ex-flatmate of Masood, 52, revealed the killer received a warning letter from HM Revenue and Customs a week after he killed five people in a car and knife rampage. He had arranged to pay off £100 a month but fell behind due to his love of gambling and alcohol.
The former flatmate, from Birmingham, told The Sun: 'It didn't fit in with his faith because both habits are banned under Islam. He'd always be coming back with scratch cards. He was not a good Muslim.'
He added: 'I never saw him go to work. He must have spent a lot of what money he had that way.'
The revelations come as the injured wife of a man killed in the Westminster terror attack returned home to the United States.
It is also believed that Masood phoned his family a week before the attack and said: “You will soon hear of my death, but don’t worry… I will be in paradise.”
A source told the Mail on Sunday that the Kent-born killer made a farewell phone call to his family one week before the atrocity last month. He reportedly told them: “You will soon hear of my death, but don’t worry, be happy, because I will be in a better place, I will be in paradise.”
He went on to add: “I want you to be happy for me, I don’t want you to be sad.”
According to the newspaper, Masood told his family he wanted the phone conversation “to be our secret”.
Detectives probing the killer said he had “a number of aliases” and was born Adrian Russell Ajao.
The Met Police previously revealed their investigation showed that Masood had not been radicalised during his time in prison and he had no links to IS.
Officers said there was no evidence he had discussed his planned attack with anyone else, and his method of attack was “low sophisticated, low tech and low cost” and that he acted wholly alone in the planning and preparation for the first mass casualty terrorist atrocity to hit Britain in more than 10 years.
One source said: “The indications are he acted on his own, and that is rare.” The investigation of Masood is understood now not to be actively seeking anyone else.
His communication on the day and in the run up to the attack has been one of police’s key lines of enquiry.
