British police named the man who killed three people near parliament before being shot dead as Khalid Masood, saying he had a string of criminal convictions but none for terrorism-related offences.

Masood, 52, was born in Kent to the southeast of London and had been most recently living in central England, London police said.

‘Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack,’ they said in a statement.

‘However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH (grievous bodily harm), possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.’

He had not been convicted previously for any terrorism offences, they said.