A YEAR on from the July 7 bombings, the family of Shehzad Tanweer are still trying to fathom how he turned from being a sports-mad university student to a suicide bomber who killed seven people on a tube train at Aldgate station.

They have spoken to his friends in Leeds, read his correspondence and gone over and over his behaviour in the last months of his life, but his father, Mohammed Mumtaz Tanweer, says: “Only the group of four or God alone knows why they carried out this terrible act.”

As the Government refuses to agree to an independent public inquiry into the events of 7/7, relatives of the 52 innocent people who were killed in the attacks say that they are unlikely to ever know what drove four young Britons to murder or whether they could have been stopped.

As bereaved families and survivors prepare to mark the anniversary at a series of poignant ceremonies in London on Friday, Tanweer’s ambitions in his own words have been revealed.

In his personal statement on his university application form, published in the New Statesman, Tanweer shows himself to be a lucid, ambitious and optimistic young man.

Regarded as a gifted student and accomplished sportsman at Wortley High School, where he was taking three A levels, in general studies, biology and English literature, he applied successfully to study sports science at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Then aged 17, Tanweer tells how he had won a local sports personality of the year award, a first place in the Leeds athletic championships, a trial with Yorkshire cricket club and a work placement teaching PE at a primary school.

He also writes that, apart from sport, his main hobby is “socialising with my friends”. This circle of friends included Mohammad Sidique Khan, who, seven years older, is regarded as the leader of the bombers.

Tanweer’s teacher at the time of his application described him as “motivated, modest and mature”. He is also praised for his “commendable perseverance”, his ability to “combat most problems”, his “quick grasp of new ideas” and his “natural ability and quiet efficiency”.

He had been recommended for the university course by a friend already studying there. A tutor who interviewed him remembers Tanweer as quiet.

Tanweer’s self-proclaimed dedication to learn and “explore human behaviour” began to dissipate after his first year.

He was accused of plagiarising a friend’s work and then began falsifying notes, said to be from his father excusing his presence from university because of his mother’s illness.His younger brother, Nikki, says this was a lie and that Tanweer was bored with college. Tutors do not appear to have inquired as to the real reasons for his failing performance.

His family remained oblivious to his radicalisation though his uncle, Tahir Pervaiz, tells how when Tanweer arrived in Pakistan in November 2004, ostensibly to visit relatives, he was carrying a photograph of Osama bin Laden in his wallet.

Mr Pervaiz described how he tried to stop Tanweer from meeting two outlawed groups but his nephew would lie about going out to play cricket and “not come back”.

The official reports into the 7/7 attacks insist there was no foreign mastermind involved in the plot, though those who witnessed Tanweer and Khan during their four-month stay in Pakistan, which included time at a jihad training camp, suspect that the pair were helped there in their terrorist plans.

Learning more about what the pair did in Pakistan is, say survivors of 7/7, one of the main reasons why there should be an independent inquiry.

TANWEER IN HIS OWN WORDS

“I have many interests and would like to keep my options open regarding my future career. I know that I am still curious about human behaviour and the scientific study of the human mind.

I also have a keen interest in the way we grow physically as well as cognitively. I believe the 3 A levels that I am studying at present will enable me to continue my studies and hopefully help me find answers to some of my questions on human behaviour.

I am a hard-working young man with a friendly personality. My main hobbies apart from sports are socialising with my friends. I am very keen to further carry on my education at university and have chosen courses that I feel will suit my interest and abilities.

I realise that self discipline and hard work are required to succeed. However, I am more determined than ever to work at my studies and I know that I can make a contribution to university life.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Tree stump 'shows image of Virgin Mary'
• BBC drops Strictly judge for younger model
• Trafalgar Square 'reduced to a spectacle'