An inquest has begun into the death of Dartford-born terrorist Khalid Masood.

Masood, born Adrian Elms and who also lived in Tunbridge Wells, ploughed a hired 4x4 into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge last March killing four people before disembarking and stabbing PC Keith Palmer to death.

The 52-year-old Muslim convert was then shot by police marksmen at the gates of parliament.

Yesterday following a three-and-a-half-week inquest Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft QC ruled Masood's victims PC Palmer, 48, Kurt Cochran, 54, Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aysha Frade, 44, and Andreea Cristea, 31, had been killed unlawfully.

He also concluded PC Palmer's death could have been prevented if the Met had stationed armed officers at the gates.

The hearing had previously been told Masood had left a cryptic 'to-do list' scrawled on a road atlas in the hired Hyundai Tuscan which featured the words 'hatred motivation' and 'exciting opportunity'.

He'd also research Isis and the vehicle's driving capabilities.

His mother Janet Ajao , who was denied anonymity, apologised to the victims' families and insisted she had no idea what her son was planning despite him telling her weeks before the incident: "They'll say I'm a terrorist, I'm not."

The jury inquest will be presided over at The Old Bailey by the same coroner and is expected to last two weeks and will hear from close protection officers who confronted Masood, medics involved in his care after he was shot and eyewitnesses.