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Eight people were killed when Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, drove a van into pedestrians and stabbed others in the London Bridge area on 3 June 2017.

It has emerged during the inquest today at the Old Bailey that London Bridge terrorist Zaghba was previously stopped by Italian border police trying to travel to Turkey to fight for ISIS in March 2016.

They asked him why he was going to Turkey and he replied "to be a terrorist".

He quickly "corrected" himself, saying "to be a tourist".

(Image: SKY NEWS)

(Image: GETTY/PA)

He was later released.

Attacker, Zaghba, was born in Fez to a Moroccan father and Italian mother and was described as "cultured, calm and controlled".

He came to Britain in 2015 and moved to Ilford, where he got a job in a restaurant.

In early 2017, he worked as a coach in a children's gymnastics programme in Dagenham and had aspirations to work in IT, the inquest was told.

He secured an internship at an Islamic television station in Parsons Green and won a full-time job as a studio technician.

In March 2016, the attacker, who had no previous convictions, was stopped at Bologna Airport in Italy on his way to Turkey, the court heard.

Asked what he was going to do in Istanbul, he replied "be a terrorist" before quickly correcting himself, saying: "Tourist".

Italian authorities put his name on the international Schengen information database but without specific details.

(Image: SKY NEWS) (Image: PA)

Zaghba, who previously drank alcohol and went clubbing, worked out with Butt at the same gym.

The murderous trio were killed within 10 minutes.

Thic comes as it was also revealed, in the inquest, that Transport for London hired terrorist Butt just months after he appeared on the Channel 4 TV programme The Jihadis Next Door to check on suspicious packages.

Butt, 27, was responsible for "conducting security searches" at Southwark Underground Station, the inquest into the terror attack, was told.