LONDON: A coroner has ruled that Khalid Masood, responsible for the Westminster attack in 2017, killed five people “unlawfully” when he plowed his car into pedestrians on Westminister Bridge and stabbed a police officer. Judge Mark Lucraft QC gave his verdict on Wednesday afternoon after a four-week inquest — which heard from witnesses as well as Masood’s mother and ex-wife. Lucraft said it was “possible” that PC Keith Palmer’s death could have been avoided but there were “shortcomings in the security system” at New Palace Yard when Masood attacked the officer. “Had they (armed officers) been stationed there it is possible that they may have been able to prevent PC Palmer suffering fatal injuries,” he said. However, Lucraft praised families of the victims for their “great dignity” and said the day was also “life-changing” for those who were injured and survived. PC Palmer’s widow said afterwards that she welcomed the inquest’s findings, saying her husband “was left at a vulnerable location with no protection to die.” Spanish teacher and mother Aysha Frade, 43, US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, and Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, 31, all died of their injuries in the attack on March 22 last year.