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    28-Feb-2015

'Jihadi John': Mohammed Emwazi had anger therapy at school - teacher

 

BBC News

 

The man named as extremist "Jihadi John" received anger management therapy in his first year of secondary school after getting into fights, a former teacher has said. Mohammed Emwazi, who has been seen in beheading videos of Western hostages, attended Quintin Kynaston school in Queens Park, London, a decade ago. The teacher said he needed help controlling his emotions.
 
But he was regarded as a "success story" after the therapy, she added.
 
Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man, who is in his mid-20s and from west London, was identified as the person dubbed "Jihadi John" earlier this week.
 
Security services have been criticised for being aware of Emwazi but not preventing him from joining Islamic State.
 
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Lucy Manning reports on the schoolboy who grew into "Jihadi John"
Speaking to BBC Two's Newsnight, the teacher, who was not identified, said the former pupil had been a "lovely, lovely boy" who had a "real willingness to try and succeed".
 
"We'd find that he'd get very angry and worked up and it would take him a long time to calm himself down, so we did a lot of work as a school to help him with his anger and to control his emotions," the teacher said.
 
"It seemed to work. He had a lot of respect for all of the work that had been done for him at our school.
 
'Huge achievement'
"He didn't come from a troubled background. He didn't leave school with no qualifications. He had every chance of doing well. I just can't believe he'd do that."
 
She went on to say that he had achieved everything he wanted to do at school.
 
"He went to a university of his choice, and from the way he started in year seven to how he blossomed until he left at the end of sixth form was a huge achievement for him."
 
Journalists gathered outside a home in west London where Mohammed Emwazi is believed to have once lived
Journalists gathered outside a home in London where Mohammed Emwazi is believed to have once lived
The teacher also said MI5 had interviewed his former teachers from the school.
 
A statement from Quintin Kynaston school said it was "shocked and sickened" that its former pupil may be involved with Islamic State.
 
It added: "All members of staff at QK work very hard to support the education and well-being of our students and protect them from harm.
 
"In this respect, QK has been extremely proactive in working with the government's Prevent strategy for a period of time and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future."
 
'Apology for terror'
UK-based advocacy group Cage has suggested that MI5 may have contributed to the radicalisation of Emwazi.
 
Downing Street said that suggestion was "completely reprehensible", while London mayor Boris Johnson described Cage's comments as "an apology for terror".
 
Mr Cameron has defended the UK's security services, praising the work of "these extraordinary men and women".
 
He went on to say the security services' "dedication and work has saved us from plots on the streets of the UK that could have done us immense damage" within the last few months.
 

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