The ex-wife of one of the London Bridge terrorists has said she is 'deeply shocked, saddened and numbed' by his actions.

Charisse O'Leary, the estranged wife of Moroccan-born Rachid Redouane, spoke today for the first time since the atrocity in which eight died and 48 were injured.

In a statement, she said: 'My thoughts and efforts now are with trying to bring up my daughter with the knowledge that someday I will have to try and explain to her why her father did what he did.'

O'Leary married Redouane - who has previously claimed to be both Libyan and Moroccan - after he failed to get asylum to live in the UK. They later had a daughter, who is now one year old.

Couple: Charisse O'Leary marries Rachid Redouane in Ireland in 2012 , months after they met, and in a country with a growing reputation as a 'backdoor' to Britain

Wedding day: O'Leary in her wedding dress after her husband was refused asylum in the UK

Charisse O'Leary (pictured, right), met Rachid Redouane (left) while she was in a long term relationship and married him months later

After they married in 2012 Redouane moved back to Morocco and this social media photo shows his wife posing outside an ISIS cafe in Casablanca. There is absolutely no suggestion that Ms O'Leary has any links to terrorism and is likely to have been poking fun at its name

Ms O'Leary released a statement saying she was thinking of all those murdered and injured and their families.

She revealed she had split from the killer six months ago and only saw him so he could spend time with their daughter.

She added: 'I wish to make it absolutely clear, so there can be no doubt, I condemn his actions and do not support the beliefs he held that led to him committing this atrocity.'

Today it was revealed that Redouane was allowed to stay in Britain after he embarked on an affair with O'Leary and married her in Dublin months later.

Full statement of killer Rachid Redouane's ex-wife Charisse O'Leary "My heartfelt thoughts go out to all those murdered or injured in the events of 3rd June 2017. I am deeply shocked, saddened and numbed by the actions of my ex partner who has killed and injured so many innocent people. Since discovering that it was Rachid that was responsible I have shed many tears for the people caught up in this horrific incident. Rachid and I have been separated for six months. We have a beautiful young daughter, that for the last six months has been our only bond and reason for contact. My thoughts and efforts now are with trying to bring up my daughter with the knowledge that someday I will have to try and explain to her why her father did what he did. I wish to make it absolutely clear, so there can be no doubt, I condemn his actions and do not support the beliefs he held that led to him committing this atrocity." Advertisement

Redouane was refused asylum in 2009, when he was using the name Rachid Elkhdar, yet managed to stay in Britain despite being arrested in Scotland attempting to travel to Northern Ireland by ferry on a fake passport.

Months after meeting Ms O'Leary in 2012, while she was in a nine-year relationship with an upholsterer, they flew to Dublin and married at a register office in the Irish capital.

Friends said Ms O'Leary, 38, eventually 'hated' her husband whom she accused of beating and bullying her after they moved in together.

They split up around nine months ago after they moved to her native east London and she refused to convert to Islam and would not let him impose his faith on their toddler daughter Amina.

Shortly after their wedding in Dublin, Rachid is said to have returned to Morocco while his 33-year-old wife went back to London

She visited him in north Africa and said on Facebook that Casablanca was one of her favourite place - but it appears he hid his true violent and controlling nature until he had secure the right to live in the UK through her.

Despite living apart the Irish authorities insisted their marriage was a genuine one and not to 'secure residency in this jurisdiction', a source told The Times.

But an inquiry has now been launched to establish if Redouane duped his wife and wed her for immigration reasons.

Supportive: The terrorist's now estranged wife sought help online to get her husband a visa and confirmed they would marry in Ireland despite her living in the UK

Redouane lived in Rathmines, an upmarket area of Dublin, before he moved to Britain with his wife around nine months ago

Dublin security sources fear foreign-born jihadis are targeting young women to marry in the Republic because once they have settled there they can travel freely to the UK.

Dozens of 'sleeper' jihadis may already be in Ireland after marrying. And 50 more are on the radar of police.

Ireland was 'backdoor' to Britain for Moroccan London Bridge terrorist In 2011 Ireland adopted an EU directive that allows citizens from outside the EU to travel freely between Britain and Ireland if they marry an EU citizen. A common travel area exists between Ireland and the UK meaning that there are no passport checks. There are growing concerns that the rule is allowing terrorists into Britain via Ireland. A security source told the Irish Mirror: 'Their main aim is to get a GNIB or FAM (EU identity card). Once they have that they can move freely to the UK. 'They often have an address in Ireland which they do not use but it takes the suspicion off them when they are living in Britain as Ireland is official their country of residence. 'They are calling them 'backdoor terrorists' or sleepers and that's a fair description'. Advertisement

In 2014, he applied for an Irish visa through his marriage to an EU citizen and a year later, he was granted an EU card, allowing him to live in the UK – and commit mass murder.

Charisse O'Leary fell pregnant as soon as they moved to the Irish capital together in 2015, MailOnline can reveal.

Ms O'Leary's ex-partner of nine years Phillip Nowles, 46, said Redouane began a relationship with his future wife while they were still together in 2012, according to The Times.

Within a few months they had split and she became engaged to him but chose to marry in Ireland.

He said she was an 'outgoing girl, a great conversationalist who liked to have a drink' but it was only after she married the jihadi that he tried to make her convert to Islam and 'control' her.

He told The Times: 'She met him while we were together, I could see she had changed. She was unhappy with me in that last year.

'They broke up this year, she was fed up with his controlling behaviour he wanted their girl to become like him. To dress in Muslim clothes and believe in his ways'.

Ms O'Leary was arrested in the aftermath of the attack but has been released without charge and had 'no idea' about his plans, friends say. She is in a safe house with her daughter Amina, one.

Friends said Ms O'Leary 'hated' her husband whom she accused of beating and bullying her during their turbulent months together as he tried and failed to impose hardline Islam on her and their daughter

A friend of the killer's estranged wife told The Sun Charisse had said: 'He was always really selfish and I gave up so much for him. I was never going to convert and become a Muslim. There's no way I was going to do that.

'I just didn't agree with what he wanted. He didn't want Amina to eat pork or go to dance classes and I wasn't having that.

'He didn't want her watching things on TV either in case it made her 'gay'.'

In recent social media posts, Ms O'Leary had complained that Redouane had not been visiting their daughter enough.

Friends confirmed that Rachid and Charisse previously lived in Dagenham, east London before splitting up when Rachid became a 'bit weird' after they arrived in the UK.

One former colleague at an Essex care home said: 'There's no way she'd have been involved [in terror]. She hated him in the end.

'He was a horrible person. She didn't say what happened but it seemed to me like it was domestic violence.'

The carer added: 'She smokes, she drinks. She wouldn't have converted to Islam. She dressed normally, in Western clothes.'

Friends said she travelled to Ireland around three years ago after he moved to the Rathmines area in the south of the city when his visa ran out.

They said Redouane tried to convert her to Islam but she refused and they had a 'volatile' relationship. He returned to Britain about nine months ago.

In 2015 she asked for advice from fellow immigration applicants to keep the killer in Britain because he had a family in this country.

Charisse O'Leary gave details on social media of how she and her 30-year-old husband were trying to apply to extend his stay in the UK via the backdoor by making an application in Ireland - after she claimed he had previously been in the UK illegally.

In recent social media posts, his estranged wife had complained that Redouane had not been visiting their daughter enough and friends said they hoped he drowned swimming - she had moved to a housing unit for vulnerable mothers

Witnesses said Ms O'Leary shouted 'don't shoot' as she was dragged out sobbing. She is said to have 'hated' her estranged husband

GardaÍ clash with UK police on terrorist's 'Irish ID card' Gardai and British police are at odds over whether Rachid Redouane was carrying an ID card linking him to Ireland when he carried out the London Bridge atrocity. British police on Monday named Rachid Redouane, a 30-year-old from Barking in east London who claimed to be Moroccan and Libyan, as one of the three attackers shot dead during the knife and van attack. Irish security sources say it is their information that Redouane, who married his English wife in Ireland in 2012, was not found with an Irish ID. Information, originating from the UK, suggested that the suspect was found with an Irish ID card, with some reports suggesting it was a Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) card. Security sources in Ireland also say that Redouane was known to police in the UK for immigration issues and was 'being observed' by police at one stage. Gardaí say Redouane was arrested in 2009 in Scotland, and held for several days, after attempting to travel to Northern Ireland by ferry. He was found in possession of a fake passport in this instance, sources say. Redouane was refused asylum in Britain earlier in 2009 but was able to remain there after being granted a '4 EU FAM' residence card following his marriage to English woman Charisse O'Leary in Ireland in 2012. A '4 EU FAM' card grants a non-European Economic Area family member permission to stay in the EU. Ireland's Common Travel Area with Britain allows the freedom of movement of people within the two islands as well as the right to reside, work and access public services. It hopes to maintain the bilateral system, which predates its EU membership, after Britain leaves the bloc. A senior source said: 'Redouane was on the UK radar. He was arrested at least once, attempting to board a boat from Scotland to Ireland in 2009. ...It is not believed he had a GNIB ID card on him when he died. But the UK were able to establish he has been in Ireland and got married here.' Advertisement

Members of a Facebook group called 'SS RIGHTS, EEA FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, Family its a Human right!!' discussed the process of sending forms back and gave advice on the documents to send to the Home Office.

On July 1, 2015, she wrote on the group that she was asking for advice on filling out an FP application form to stay in Britain.

The FP form is an application for a foreigner to stay in the UK if they have a family life in this country, with a partner, parent or dependent child or on the basis of your private life in the UK.

Writing as Charisse Ann O'leary she told how she was 22 weeks pregnant and arrived in Dublin on February 1, 2015.

She said: 'Started on fp application form. Like a bag of nerves. If my husband was refused on the grounds of previous immigration history being in the UK illegally. Would I appeal it or do new application?'

In another comment she added: 'We haven't lied. We been here since 1st of February and i'm working full time since 12th of February. But now 22 weeks pregnant fell soon as arrived in Dublin. Really want to be home before baby arrives.'

An Irish security source described Redouane, who was not previously known to the security services, as having 'extensive immigration history related to the UK'. The Home Office declined to comment last night and a number of important questions remained unanswered.

Today it emerged that he punched, slapped and kicked the mother of his child Charisse O'Leary and refused to let her out of their house if he caught her smoking or drinking alcohol.

Redouane, who was part of the barbaric trio who killed seven people on London Bridge and Borough Market, tried to get his wife to wear a hijab and eat halal food, but she refused saying she was a Western woman.

A friend of the Charisse told the Mirror she would try and arrange to meet up with the 38-year-old, but was regularly told she could not come.

'It would either be, 'he's slapped me in the middle of the street today' or 'he's kicked me' or 'he will not let me out the house',' she said.

'She was scared, really scared. It was harsh domestic violence.'

Terrorists: Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba massacred seven people in a rampage which started on London Bridge on Saturday night

The trio began their killing spree just after 10pm when they ploughed into pedestrians in a white van on London Bridge

One of Gabriele Sciotto's photographs showed the face of the dying terrorist, wearing an Arsenal football shirt and combat trousers, just a few metres in front of him

Police teams could be seen analysing the rental van which ploughed into pedestrians on Saturday evening

It was not clear when the jihadi first arrived in the UK, whether he was deported back to Morocco after his asylum application was rejected in 2009 and how he managed to slip back into the UK under a different name.

8 London Bridge terror attack victims Kirsty Boden, 28, from Loxton, Australia

James McMullan, 32, from Hackney, east London

Christine Archibald, 30, from British Columbia, Canada

Alexandre Pigeard, 27, from Normandy, France

Sara Zelenak, 21, from Brisbane, Australia

Sebastien Belanger, 36, from Angers, France

Ignacio Echeverria, 39, from Las Rozas, Spain

Xavier Thomas, 45, from Loire-Atlantique, France Advertisement

Miss O'Leary, who has a 20-month-old daughter Amina but split from Redouane about three months ago, could not be reached for comment last night. She was released without charge on Monday, 36 hours after being arrested in connection with the terror attacks which culminated in her husband being shot dead by police. Last night there were further disturbing revelations about Redouane and his life in the UK.

Like his fellow London Bridge attacker Khuram Butt, he was a follower of hate preacher Anjem Choudary's banned Islamist extremist group al-Muhajiroun, Sky News reported.

Sources in Dublin revealed he was arrested for immigration offences in 2009 – the year he was refused asylum in the UK – while trying to board a boat from Scotland to Northern Ireland and was held for a number of days. It is believed he was questioned about fake passports.

It was also claimed that UK police had arrested him previously, possibly for immigration-related offences.

Scotland Yard said on Monday that Redouane had not been on the terror radar in the past.

Last night a bakery boss who employed Redouane said the pastry chef had been looking for a better life in the UK, only for extremist Muslims to brainwash him. Rajan Sehdev, 44, owner of Dylan's Bakery in Willesden, North West London, said Redouane was suffering from depression after splitting from his wife.

Redouane had already lived in the UK for nearly a decade when in August 2011 he joined the bakery, where he met Miss O'Leary.

'It wasn't a marriage of convenience,' Mr Sehdev said. 'The Rachid I knew is the complete opposite to the individual involved in the events of Saturday night.

'He wasn't opinionated, political or ever discussed religion. He never showed any extreme views.

'It seems he came back a couple of years ago and moved east [to Barking] where he met these friends and associates, like Khuram Butt and Anjem Choudary. He was naive and they manipulated him... brainwashed him. He had lost his own way in life and maybe thought they gave him a purpose – instead they poisoned him with their ideology.'