UK Parliament attack: British police identify attacker as Khalid Masood

The 52-year-old had a string of criminal convictions but none for terrorism-related offences

British police named the man who killed five people near Britain's parliament before being shot dead as Khalid Masood, saying he had a string of criminal convictions but none for terrorism-related offences.

Masood, 52, was born in Kent to the southeast of London and had been most recently living in central England, London police said. Known by a number of other aliases, he had not been convicted previously for any terrorism offences, they added.

"Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack," they said in a statement.

"However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH (grievous bodily harm), possession of offensive weapons and public order offences," the police said.  

Police also said that his first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.

The link to central England tied in with the news that the car used in the attack had been hired from rental company Enterprise's Spring Hill branch in Birmingham.