Fahad Khan said either family or police confiscated Butt’s passport to prevent him travelling to Syria two years ago

London Bridge killer Khuram Butt supported Islamic State and tried to travel to Syria but was stopped by family members, a relative has said.

Fahad Khan, whose cousin Zarah Rahman was married to Butt, said he believed either family or police had confiscated Butt’s passport to prevent him from travelling to the conflict-torn country about two years ago.

Khan, 36, from Upney, east London, said Butt had “fundamentalist views” that drove him to back Islamic State and would watch hate preachers online.

He said: “I’ve heard from my family members that he wanted to leave her [his wife] as he had plans to go to Syria. I’ve heard that his family have stopped him and his passport might [have been] taken by his mother, father or police.”

Butt had “fundamentalist views”, Khan said, which had led him to support Isis. “I know he was inspired by one of the preachers who are giving lectures on YouTube.

He was of the opinion that what is doing in Isis, in the name of God, is quite justified.”

Asked whether he had ever felt that he should have reported Butt to police, Khan said: “Police already know these things and he had already been given a warning.”

Khan was speaking outside the Ummah Fitness Centre, a gym in Ilford attended by Butt, which was searched on Thursday by police officers.

CCTV recordings obtained by the Times show Butt meeting outside the gym with fellow attackers Rachid Redouane and Youseff Zaghba at midnight on 29 May, five days before they launched their attack on London Bridge and Borough Market.



The images show Redouane placing his phone on the floor, before the men move down the road for 10 minutes and then return. Butt enters the gym, which is understood to open until 3am during Ramadan to accommodate fasting Muslims.

Khan said: “The last time I saw Khuram [was] the day before he did this thing.” They had bumped into each other at the gym, where Butt was praying. Khan said he joined him for a prayer, at the end of which Butt had left.

Khan said: “My whole family’s life has dramatically and significantly changed. Everywhere we will go, regardless of whether we are the victims or not, we have to answer the question.”

A cordon was put in place around the gym on Thursday and later removed. Management left a typed notice to the press outside denying reports that it was a Muslim-only gym.

“At least half of our regular attendees are not Muslim. We are open and welcoming to all people,” it read. “In addition we at UFC gym are shocked and deeply saddened by the events that occurred at London Bridge and Borough on Saturday night. There is never any justification for indiscriminately killing civilians.

“We have hundreds of people training at UFC each week. We are a welcoming and open part of the community. While Mr Butt did occasionally train here at UFC gym we do not know him well nor did we see anything of concern, we will of course help the police in any way we can.

“In these challenging times it is important we all stand united, we must avoid scapegoating any part of the community.”

Three men were arrested in Ilford in the early hours of Thursday as the investigation continued into the assault on London’s nightlife that claimed the lives of eight people and resulted in dozens of injuries.



A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism from a residential property in Wingate Road, just metres away from the Ummah Fitness Centre. Two others were arrested on the street, one on suspicion of preparation for acts of terrorism, the other on drugs offences.

Fazal Mahmoud, 57, who lives opposite the raided house in Wingate Road, said the family there consisted of a mother, her three sons and the wife of the eldest son and their children.

Another neighbour said he had witnessed the raid: “They [police] blocked both ends with an unmarked vehicle in the middle of the street. I heard people shouting ‘armed police’, waking up all the neighbourhood, then they take everybody out of this house.



The neighbour said he saw two men being detained. “I saw them on the street, lying on the street when they put their handcuffs on – typical procedure for police,” he said. “I think there was around one or two teams of anti-terror squad.”

The Met police said the police cordon around the scene of the attack was likely to stay in place until Sunday evening at the earliest as the continued the investigation.

• The headline of this article was updated to reflect the developing nature of the story. A separate article about the police officer who was stabbed in the attack has been published here.

