Ilford London Bridge terrorist previously told authorities he was travelling ‘to be a terrorist’

Italian authorities had first been alerted to Youssef Zaghba in March 2016, when he was stopped before boarding a flight from Bologna to Turkey.

Asked what he was going to do in Istanbul, the 22-year-old Moroccan said, "be a terrorist" before quickly correcting himself to say "tourist", the Old Bailey was told yesterday (Tuesday, May 28).

Zaghba was born in Fez to a Moroccan father and Italian mother and moved to Ilford in 2015.

Having worked in a restaurant, he got a job as a studio technician at an Islamic television station in Parsons Green.

As a result of being stopped at Bologna Airport, Italian authorities put his name on the international Schengen information database but without specific details.

London Bridge terrorist, Rachid Redouane, 30 of Dagenham also went undetected despite calling the death of fusilier Lee Rigby the "government's fault" after he was detained at an immigration centre in Belfast.

He met his wife, Charisse O'Leary, in a nightclub in Manchester and they married in Dublin, the court heard.

Their relationship broke down after he slapped her face for warming their baby daughter's milk in the microwave.

Redouane moved to East Ham but continued to have regular contact with his child.

On the afternoon before the attack, Redouane took his child with him to some of the places where attack preparations were made.

Ringleader Khuram Butt, 27, was described by a friend as being "energised" and "like a lion out of a cage" in the company of convicted Islamic State supporter Anjem Choudary.

Just two years before the attack, a family member had reported him to an anti-terrorism hotline and he became the subject of a counter-terrorism investigation.

Through his job as a London Underground assistant, he had access to the security information for the network.

He passed employees vetting procedures despite featuring in an extremist TV documentary.

The inquest continues.