Violent episodes betraying the murderous intent of which Khalid Masood was capable were peppered throughout his past.

The attacker who stormed Parliament armed with two knives was said to have held a blade to a friend's throat 16 years earlier and later told him: "I dream about killing someone."

Before unleashing his deadly plot on London, his volatile behaviour provoked alarm and reportedly saw him seek professional help.

His lengthy criminal history included a two-year jail stint for a fight outside the Crown and Thistle in Northiam, near Rye, East Sussex that left a man needing 20 stitches to the face.

His then friend Lee Lawrence, 47, tried to pacify Masood that day, but soon found the fury directed at him, according to reports.

"He had the knife against my throat and he is going, 'I want some blood, I want some f***ing blood, I want to kill someone', he told The Telegraph.

"After he calmed down a bit he was saying, 'What have I done? What am I doing? I am going for help, I just want blood or I want to kill someone'.

"He said he was having help, some kind of anger management."

He said he was having help, some kind of anger management

He also claimed the troubled thug told him, "I dream about blood. I dream about killing someone".

Adrian Baker, 51, who has lived in Northiam for 25 years, said Elms was known as a "troubled" character.

Masood enjoyed his reputation as a fearsome man and displayed a violent temper, Mr Lawrence said.

"He wasn't stupid. He was very articulate and intelligent," he told The Sun.

"But when he got angry he would just snap and became a different person. It was terrifying."

But as a schoolboy, then known as Adrian Elms, he was popular among friends.

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.

Mr Knight, 52, told the Press Association: "He was a very nice guy, down to earth, liked by everyone around him.

"There was nothing unassuming about him, he was a very good sportsman, his mother was a Christian, he was an all-round nice guy."

Masood's criminal career dated back to 1983 and included convictions for assault, GBH and possession of an offensive weapon.

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.

It is feared he was indoctrinated with a radical Islamic ideology while in prison.

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.

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