Jihadi John: From 'quiet, popular footballer' at Church of England school to IS executioner

The masked Islamic State (IS) executioner, Jihadi John, who appeared in several beheading videos, has been identified as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man from west London, who loved playing football and was a "quiet lad" at a Church of England school.

He was the only Muslim student in his class at St Mary Magdalene Church of England Primary School and his former classmates said that it was hard to believe that the "quiet lad" they had known from their schooldays had become a "notorious terrorist," reported The Mirror.

Entries from a school yearbook showed that he liked S Club 7 and wanted to be a footballer when he grew up.

An ex-classmate said that Emwazi was at the bottom half of the class but was popular and one of the "sporty guys." He recalled that he talked about his religion during a RE lesson and also showed students what Arabic looked like by writing it on the board.

A friend of the family remarked that Emwazi's father is one of the "most good natured men in the world" and his mum is very nice too. They recalled that his dad once told them that he had become more religious but they did not think much about it.

The report said that the IS executioner was approached by British security agents at least three times before he joined the terror group. The organization claimed that when he refused to be recruited as a spy, an agent warned him that he will have a "lot of trouble" and will be "followed." He is also believed to have told Emwazi, "Life will be harder for you."

Emwazi, a University of Westminster graduate who earned a degree in computer sciences in 2009, is believed to have been radicalised by hate preacher Bilal al-Berjawi.

The computer programmer appeared in the beheading videos of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid workers David and Alan Henning, Americans Peter Kassig and James Foley. He is also believed to have killed Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto.