Khuram Butt: London attacker was inspired by videos on YouTube, says relative

'He said all the time that what Isis is doing is quite justified'

Fahad Khan said Khuram Butt spoke of his support for Islamic State at an east London gym just weeks before the attack in London Bridge and Borough Market (Dominic Harris/PA)

London Bridge terrorist Khuram Butt was inspired by watching videos on YouTube, was a fervent supporter of Islamic State and wanted to leave his pregnant wife to fight in Syria, a relative has said.

Butt and his two accomplices, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba, died in a hail of police bullets after killing eight people during their murderous spree in the capital.

Butt, 27, was a regular at the Ummah Fitness Centre in Ilford, where he reportedly went with both Redouane and Zaghba.

​Fahad Khan, the cousin of Butt's wife Zahrah Rehman, said he openly discussed with him his support for Isis.

Mr Khan, 36, said the younger man had been radicalised by watching videos on YouTube, spoke of wanting to travel to Syria to fight and had an excellent knowledge of Islamic texts.

He told reporters: “Such funny views. He said all the time that what Isis is doing is quite justified. His arguments are always vague to me. I always tried to stay friendly and fun. I don’t take his argument very seriously because I didn't want to have a clash with him.

“According to him, Isis, whatever they are doing killing innocent people, he says it is quite justified."

Explaining his belief that Butt had been radicalised after watching online films, he said: “Khuram, I know he was inspired by one of the sheikhs who was giving lectures on YouTube, and he belonged to one specific sector of Islam which had very rigid and strict views. Videos about fighting non-Muslims for no reasons, innocent non-Muslims.

"He wanted to go to Syria, yes. I heard from [an] uncle that he wanted to go to Syria to fight, but because of the family pressure or it might be the intervention by the authorities who seized his passport or whatever, he couldn't go there."

Asked if he had a direct link to Isis, he said: “It may be possible, but I can’t tell you.”

The gym is just a street away from Wingate Road, where armed police recently raided a house and arrested a 29-year-old man in connection with the London Bridge terror investigation.

Mr Khan said that he and others prayed at the gym, particularly during Ramadan, but said he had not seen any signs of radicalisation there.

He said: “I haven't seen it because the gym is not for Muslim people. I didn't see anything like that. It might be behind the scenes, but personally I don't know anything.”

Mr Khan's cousin, Ms Rehman, was pregnant when Butt was discussing travelling to Syria, Mr Khan said, and his family wanted to stop him going.

He said: “I’ve even heard that his family has taken his passport, and that's the reason he stayed here.”

Mr Khan is also a member of the gym and saw Butt there on a number of occasions, where they discussed his views.

He said: “Most of the time we had a debate. Me, whenever I had a chance to meet with him I had a little debate, what is happening in Syria, the people who are doing it. I don't get involved with arguments with him, I knew that he would not listen to me anyway. I just wanted to end up in a friendly manner.”

Mr Khan said that he always felt Butt would become aggressive if he argued with him over religion.

He said: “I never went to that extreme because I knew his temper. Whenever you spoke to a person like that you just realised it – if you keep on talking to that extent it can be an argument and it might turn into a fight.”

But he always described Butt as “a very friendly and down-to-earth person”.

He said: "He liked to help people, and the most favourite hobby of him was to come down on teenagers if they behave badly. But that was one side of the face, but unfortunately we don't have a clue what was the other side of his face, what activities he has been doing.

"Imagining what I've seen now, I am really regretting that I've seen such a person, and it's really shocked me what he has done."

Mr Khan said his family had been left "shocked, upset and depressed" by what had happened, saying that when he spoke to his cousin she had sounded tearful.