Minutes before a rented van mounted the kerb in Toronto on Monday, killing 10 pedestrians and injuring 15, a post was uploaded to the Facebook page of the suspect Alek Minassian saying the “incel revolution had already begun”.

The post was referencing an obscure and misogynistic online subculture of involuntarily celibate men, or ‘incels’, who frequently blame women for their inability to find a sexual partner.

It also praised California mass shooter Elliot Rodger, who killed six people in a rampage in 2014 as “retribution” because he was still a virgin aged 22, who had “never even kissed a girl”.

In the years since the attack, Rodger has become a perverse cult figure in some incel forums, and the killer's self-pitying YouTube videos have racked up millions of views.

Facebook has confirmed to the Telegraph that the account on which the 'incel revolution' post appeared is that of 25-year-old Minassian, who is now facing 10 counts of murder and 13 of attempted murder in relation to the attack.