Mohammed Emwazi mixed with a violent street gang who used stun guns to target wealthy victims in London’s Mayfair, it has emerged. He also had childhood links to other Islamic extremists who went on to join terror groups in Syria and Somalia. Emwazi was known to associate with Choukri Ellekhlifi – a member of a masked gang which preyed on rich targets in a series of violent attacks. The Moroccan-born criminal was thought to have been two years below the IS killer at Quintin Kynaston academy in St John’s Wood, North West London. Emwazi was a known associate to Choukri Elleklifi (right) - a member of a masked gang which preyed on rich targets in a series of violent attacks in London . But he fled to join an Al Qaeda group in Syria before he could be brought to justice, and was killed by government forces near Aleppo in August 2013. He and Emwazi were both said to have fallen under the sway of extremists while they were at secondary school, before Emwazi was further radicalised by hate preachers he encountered at Westminster University. School contemporaries claimed the older boy was involved in regular fights and the ‘borderline stalking’ of a female classmate. He was said to have dressed like a ‘gangster rapper’ as a teenager and to have experimented with alcohol and cannabis, before being radicalised by fanatical Islamists in his late teens. It is thought the toxic combination of their preaching and the violence he was exposed to through his association with Ellekhlifi may have fuelled his own descent into hate-filled brutality. Ellekhlifi and two friends committed eight robberies against wealthy victims in Mayfair, central London, in the space of a few days in July 2012 – not long before Emwazi travelled to Syria and joined Islamic State. The extremist, a former University of Westminster student, used to dress as a gangster rapper, said friends . Wearing masks, they threatened their victims with a stun gun and demanded they hand over possessions including wallets, watches and mobile phones. Two of their victims ended up in hospital with minor injuries after the stun gun was fired directly at them, and a sub-machine gun was later found at the home of one gang member. Ellekhlifi was charged but fled to Syria. He was found guilty in his absence and sentenced to six years for conspiracy to rob. Before his death, he was pictured in the country wearing paramilitary equipment and clutching an AK-47. Emwazi was never accused of taking part in the robberies carried out by the gang. In a separate case, he was charged with possessing stolen bicycles, but was later acquitted by a jury. He has also been linked to a network of British-based jihadists who have avoided deportation by using the Human Rights Act to block moves to force them to leave Britain. They include an Al Qaeda suspect with known connections to the failed July 21 London bomb plot and a second London-based man accused of attending an Al Shabaab training camp in Somalia. Emwazi has also been linked to radical hate preachers who taught ‘white widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite and the Woolwich killers Michael Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo. Britain’s security services have faced criticism that he was able to travel to Syria undetected, despite his many links to known terror suspects. This is despite emails sent by the militant in 2010 and 2011 claiming that MI5 was harassing him. Up to five schools are being investigated by the Department for Education which is worried about the radicalisation of pupils, it was reported last night. The department’s counter-extremism unit has been called in after it emerged that former pupils had joined extremist groups. The review includes Mohammed Emwazi’s former school – Quintin Kynaston academy in London – which is known to have had at least three ex-pupils join Islamic terror organisations. As well as Emwazi and gangster Choukri Ellekhlifi, former pupil Mohammed Sakr left Britain to join Somalia-based Al Shabaab before being killed in a US air strike in early 2012. Questions have now been raised about whether enough was done to prevent teenagers at the school being brainwashed by extremists. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has ordered officials to investigate the academy’s records to examine what measures were in place to tackle radicalisation. A spokesman for the department said that the academy is ‘clearly a different school today’ than it was when Emwazi attended, but said they were reviewing records to ‘see if there are any lessons we can learn for the future’. The school insists it is not a terrorist breeding ground and that it has been ‘proactive’ in working with the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy. Current headteacher Alex Atherton said: ‘Students that may have attended nine years ago are not a reflection of the students we are proud of having at Quintin Kynaston.’ The review includes Mohammed Emwazi’s former school – Quintin Kynaston academy in London – which is known to have had at least three ex-pupils join Islamic terror organisations .
Mohammed Emwazi had links to violent street gang of muggers in London . Together the thugs targeted wealthy victims with stun guns and rob them . He also had childhood links to other Islamic extremists now in Syria . Choukri Ellekhlifi was two years below IS killer at Quintin Kynaston school . Moroccan born criminal killed in 2013 after joining Al Qaeda in Aleppo .