Sister of London Bridge terror attacker Khuram Butt 'sacked from her job at Heathrow Airport'

The sister of the London Bridge terror mastermind is believed to have been sacked from Heathrow amid questions about staff vetting at the airport.

Britain’s biggest airport carried out an investigation with security services into the sister of Khuram Butt, who massacred revellers in the capital last month.
Butt, 27, was known to M15 as a key figure in extremist group al-Muhajiroun and appeared in the Channel 4 documentary The Jihadis Next Door.

His older sister, Haleema Butt, 28, got a job working security at Heathrow two months before the attack . A source told the Mirror the mother-of-two had her employment terminated as a result of the probe.

She declined to comment when approached at home in Harrow, north- west London, but added: “You should take it up with Heathrow .”
The airport announced Haleema and husband, Usman Darr – who also worked on security – were suspended after the Mirror revelations.

Usman, who had worked at Heathrow for a number of years, is believed to be still suspended. There is no suggestion Haleema Butt or Usman Darr are extremists or knew what Butt was planning.
The jihadi’s family are said to have had their lives turned upside down by his actions.

A terror expert has demanded more stringent background checks for sensitive jobs at vital UK infrastructure sites.
Col Hamish de Bretton Gordon, former head of chemical weapons for the British Army and NATO, said: “Security roles at places such as Heathrow are critical – these are the people stopping terrorists putting bombs on planes. We need to be doing more to check the names of employees against terror watch lists.

“We can’t suggest this sister is in any way sympathetic to her brother’s views, but there have been enough terror cases where relatives have been acting together for the need for these checks to be done.
"Manchester and London Bridge have shown us we just can’t take risks.”

Khuram Butt, wearing an Arsenal FC shirt, with accomplices Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba, drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing and slashing revellers in Borough Market, leaving eight dead.

A Heathrow spokesman said: “Heathrow took appropriate action in close cooperation with the authorities in relation to two colleagues employed at the airport.”