The London terrorist, Adrian Russell, who drove a vehicle into oncoming pedestrians on Westminster bridge in March 2017 has been found to have injected himself with anabolic steroids in the days and hours before committing his heinous crime. The British national was a convert to Islam and took on the made-up name of Khalid Masood. The results of steroid use came to light during a testimony at the pre-hearing inquest. During his rampage in the city, Russell killed five innocent victims and caused serious injury to more than fifty others during his sick attack.
At the hearing, which was given the title of “Inquests arising from the deaths in The Westminster Terror Attack” Russells life was examined. This took place at the Old Bailey in January 2018. At the hearing, Jonathan Hough QC submitted testimony on a public level, which included the information that Russell had been using performance enhancing drugs (PED’s). This information was released for the first time to become public knowledge.
A urine sample showed that Russell had been abusing anabolic steroids in the days and hours prior to his timely demise. The sample was analyzed by a toxicologist, who found the findings to be correct. Currently, a specialized toxicologist is now placing the sample under analysis to discover how steroid usage may have affected Adrian Russell. A urinalysis is able to pick up on the used of steroids and steroidal compounds, such as exogenous steroids and their resulting metabolites.
Exactly which steroids were being used by Russell were not revealed, although this may occur at a later date during the official hearing. Russell decided to change his name to Khalid Massod after converting to Isalm while incarcerated. It was while he was in prison that he was radicalized, and he already had a long history of violent offenses, which had landed him in jail in the first place. Russell is also known to have sent a message via the encrypted messaging service ‘WhatsApp’. It was in this message that he declared his reasons for performing the attack, which was down to the usual ‘revenge against countries who participate in military action against those countries which contain large Muslim populations in the middle east.
During his act of terrorism, Russell drove a rented Hyundai SUV into the crowded bridge, a vehicle that he rented from Enterprise Rent A Car. The pedestrians going about their day were all on Westminster Bridge, which is located just outside the Briitish Governments HQ, The Houses of Parliament. Of the five victims who died during the attack, four died as a result of the direct impact. These were named as British Citizen and school teacher Aysha Frade, Leslie Rhodes, who was a retired window cleaner, an American Citizen, and engineer Kurt Cochran, and Andreea Cristea, an architect from Romania. Luckily, Russell was shot in the chest shortly after, which proved to be fatal.
The inquest held by the Westminster coroner is an across the broad and in-depth inquiry and investigation into all and any factors which may have led to Russell’s actions. Of all of the current leads of inquiry, the use of PED’s and anabolic steroids are just one of the potential triggers. All variables are being examined closely to try and reveal any other possible motives that could lead to such a deranged character.
Anabolic steroids are known to be able to cause behavioral and psychological effects, and these results will be considered only after a complete ‘psychological autopsy’ has been completed. It is still too soon to know if the use of steroids contributed to his act of terrorism.
