ON WEDNESDAY the world watched in horror as Khalid Masood launched his ferocious knife attack, writes Ben James.

But it was not the first time the 52-year-old had wielded a weapon in anger. Nearly 17 years earlier drinkers in the Crown and Thistle pub in Northiam stood by helplessly as he lunged at cafe owner Piers Mott.

Then calling himself Adrian Elms, Masood attacked Mr Mott after an argument which police said contained “racial overtones”.

Just minutes earlier he had slashed the seats in Mr Mott’s car before waving the knife at him.

Mr Mott needed more than 20 stitches and Masood was jailed for two years.

His defence barrister in court warned of the impact the incident would have on Masood. She said his family had become ostracised in the village and had been forced to move out.

It is impossible to pinpoint what triggers a seemingly normal family man to become a killer. But that Sunday afternoon in 2000, the people of Northiam got a terrifying insight into what Masood was capable of.

He was born Adrian Elms on Christmas Day 1964 in Dartford, Kent. As a child he took his father’s name, Ajao, and the family moved to Rye where they lived in a £300,000 home.

They moved again to Erith on the Kent London border and Masood was educated at Huntley School for Boys in Tunbridge Wells. Yesterday, his friends remembered him as a fun-loving football fanatic with a keen interest in science.

After leaving school he first came into contact with the police and picked up his first conviction for criminal damage aged 19.

In his 20s he is thought to have moved back to Sussex where he worked at Aaron Chemicals in Bodiam. He later moved to Northiam where he first came to the attention of The Argus.

Our court report from November 2000 tells of the sickening knife attack which left Mr Mott scarred for life.

Yesterday, Mr Mott’s widow, Heather, said she felt sick when she heard Masood was responsible for the Westminster atrocity.

She said: “It puts a chill down your spine. It absolutely makes you feel sick. It makes you feel sick when you see the interviews on the television.

“And it makes you feel even sicker when you think, God, that was the guy who lived here. What a pity they didn’t realise he was a nutter.”

Not long after his release from jail, Masood is thought to have moved to Eastbourne where he was involved in another knife attack.

It is said he stabbed a man in the nose, leaving him needing cosmetic surgery. He was sent back to jail for another six months for possession of offensive weapon and served time in Lewes Prison and Ford open prison. It is understood counter terrorism police are looking into the possibility he was radicalised while inside.

Mrs Mott yesterday said: “He was obviously prone to being radicalised. He has come out even worse.”

He is thought to have converted to Islam sometime after his second spell in prison and he married his Muslim wife, Farzana Malik, in 2004.

The pair had three children and it appears he tried to put his troubled ways behind him by gaining a TESOL certificate allowing him to teach English to foreigners.

It is said he spent a period working in Saudi Arabia before moving to Luton where he was an English teacher.

In his final years he lived in Birmingham but it was Sussex, and more specifically Brighton, he chose to return to for his final days.

But why Brighton is a question New Scotland Yard are trying to figure out.