Emwazi's Old Schoolmate: 'He Was Like Any Of Us'

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A classmate of Mohammed Emwazi - the Londoner unmasked as "Jihadi John" - has told Sky News that "nothing in his high school could have left him radicalised".

There has been widespread shock at Quintin Kynaston academy following Emwazi's apparent involvement in a series of Islamic State videos which show the gruesome beheadings of Western aid workers and journalists.

The former pupil said there was nothing to suggest Emwazi was religious during his teenage years. He was quiet, rarely made eye contact, and always wore a baseball cap - but was known to get into the occasional fight.

"There was something peculiar about him in that he was violent but he wasn't someone who was loud who talked in a provocative way," the ex-classmate said. "There were others who were going around bullying."

The fellow pupil at the north-west London academy believes the IS militant's education beyond high school may be responsible for his transformation into a cold-blooded killer.

"It wasn't like university where you'd have speakers coming over from certain societies to give talks," said the classmate, who was two years older than Emwazi and does not wish to be named.

"I suppose there was potential for him to be groomed, that is a possibility. But at the time, at secondary school, he was like any of us."

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Gallery: Jihadi John's University Academic Record

Mohammed Emwazi, aka Jihadi John, studied a computing course at university. Sky News has exclusively obtained his student record

His file shows mostly middling academic grades for his course modules. He graduated with a lower second (2.2) degree

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Emwazi is believed to be the British-accented man who has appeared in Islamic State beheading videos

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Pictures have also emerged of Emwazi from his school yearbook in 1996

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The 27-year-old went to St Mary Magdalene Church of England school in Maida Vale, west London

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Emwazi, 26, went on to study at the University of Westminster between 2006 and 2009 - finishing his computer programming degree.

In the same year, he was reportedly questioned by an MI5 officer in Amsterdam, accused of attempting to travel to Somalia to join a terror group.

It comes as a former reviewer of UK terrorism legislation told Sky News that Emwazi could have been subject to tougher security measures if it had not been for government mistakes.

Lord Carlile said: "Had control orders been in place, in my review there is a realistic prospect that Mohammed Emwazi and at least two of his associates would have been the subject of control orders with a compulsory relocation.

"If that had been the case he would not have done what he has done in recent times."

The unnamed classmate, who has watched some of the videos, continued: "Something has gone wrong somewhere - whether in the UK, or when he went abroad.

"It's a shame that we, or the Government, weren't able to stop it, or to even notice it.

"I presume he's got some anger to vent out, or he's enjoying the fame. He seems to be confident in what he is doing - it's not like what I saw when he was younger."

One of Emwazi's secondary school teachers told BBC Newsnight that Emwazi had received anger management therapy - and at the time, appeared to be a "success story" in overcoming the problem and going on to achieve good grades.

Since his identity was revealed, Quintin Kynaston has released a statement saying it was "shocked and sickened" that one of their alumni has become involved in terrorism.

MI5 has reportedly questioned Emwazi's former teachers following on from his identification.

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