One of the terrorists responsible for carrying out the London Bridge attack was able to enter the UK with a false name and age, the inquest into his death has said.
An inquest revealed that 30-year-old Rachid Redouane, one of the three men involved in the terror attack in central London on June 3 in which eight people were killed, had previously told authorities his name was Rachid Elkhdar and that he was five years younger than he was.
The inquest at Southwark Coroner’s court, just yards away from where the attacks took place, revealed that Redouane, of Barking, was initially identified through fingerprints held by the immigration service as Rachid Elkhdar, born on July 31, 1991, The Guardian reports.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Moring of the Metropolitan Police told the court that “subsequent fingerprint comparisons” confirmed Redouane’s real identity after his wife revealed he had given a false name.
DCI Moring told the court: “However, a statement was taken from his wife who stated he used that name when he entered the country and his real name was Rachid Redouane, date of birth 31 July 1986.”
“Subsequent fingerprint comparisons made against national identity documents held in Morocco again confirmed the name Rachid Redouane.”
Rachid Redouane and his accomplices Khuram Shazad Butt, 27 and Youssef Zaghba, 22 were shot dead by police officers at Borough Market, Moring confirmed.
The incident was the third Jihadist attack to take place in the UK within a 10-week period, and followed attacks in Westminster, in which five people were killed in a vehicle attack similar that in London Bridge, and Manchester, where 22 people, including children, lost their lives after a bomb went off during a concert.
Migrants have entered the country using fake IDs before. Last year, hundreds of illegal Iranian immigrants, including suspected Islamic terrorists, were smuggled into Britain, whilst Germany has admitted to knowingly allowing in migrants with fake passports.