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(Image: IG)

Thomas Evans, a Muslim-convert from Buckinghamshire, was killed aged 25 while storming a Kenyan military base with Islamic State-affiliate Al-Shabaab in June.

His mum Sally was "devastated" when she saw pictures of his dead body on Twitter – but also "relieved" as he could do no more harm.

Mrs Evans, 57, of High Wycombe, said: "I think he is burning in hell."

(Image: INS)

She has described how he transformed from a "shy and gentle" teenager dreaming of becoming a Royal Marine – into a monster who murdered Christians and burned churches.

Evans – named the White Beast for his ruthlessness on the battlefield – first went off the rails at 14 – growing his hair, listening to heavy metal and smoking weed – after his dad left home.

His mum believes his radicalisation began after he met new Asian friends at the gym.

He changed his name to Abdul Hakim, grew a long beard and refused to eat from the same pots as his family – complaining they weren't "halal".

(Image: INS)

Evans started attending the Muslim Education centre in High Wycombe – along with two worshippers jailed in 2009 for plotting to blow up airliners over the Atlantic.

He lost his job for preaching extremist views to colleagues – then decided to flee to Kenya.

Counter terrorism officers stopped Evans at Heathrow and banned him from travelling to Africa.

But – astonishingly – just four months later he was able to travel to Egypt after claiming he was going to study Arabic there.

From there he travelled on to Kenya.

(Image: TWITTER)

In January 2012 Evans called his mum and told her he’d married a girl – who was either “13 or 14” – almost half his age.

After the horrifying terror attack in the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Evans told his mum it “was okay to murder innocent men, women and children”.

Intelligence reports would later link him to violent attacks on non Muslims – including beheading Christians, setting fire to churches and slaughtering entire villages.

At an event organised by the counter-terrorism think-tank Quilliam, Mrs Evans said: “Imagine discovering the death of your child on Twitter and being both devastated and relieved at the same time.

“Devastated because the child you brought into this world was killed after being brainwashed into pursuing a murderous cause.

"But relieved because the death of your child meant that he could no longer harm innocent people.”

White converts to radical Islam are the fastest growing threat to national security, intelligence chiefs have said.