THE terrorist bomber who claimed the most lives in the London atrocities spent much of his life in Huddersfield.
The Examiner can today exclusively reveal that 19-year-old Jermaine Lindsay lived in Dalton and attended schools in Rawthorpe.
The news that one of Britain's first suicide bombers is from here will stun the town and thrust Huddersfield into the international media spotlight.
Lindsay's ex-classmates from Rawthorpe Junior School and Rawthorpe High School were reeling with shock as they talked about their classmate who turned into a notorious killer.
Detectives believe he was responsible for the deadliest bomb which exploded on the Piccadilly line between King's Cross and Russell Square, killing 26 people.
Lindsay - also known as Jermaine Jamal - lived with his 21-year-old wife, Samantha Lewthwaite, in a rented semi-detached house in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
She is said to be eight months' pregnant with their second child.
Former classmates from Huddersfield remember him as a popular youngster who changed dramatically when he suddenly converted to Islam at just 15 years old.
How and why remains a mystery.
Samantha Rana-Liburd and her boyfriend, Kyle Walter, both knew him well.
The 19-year-old Rawthorpe couple have revealed their shock when they realised they knew the fourth bomber.
At first he was named as Lindsay Germaine who had changed his surname to Jamal and was in his late 20s.
But when photographs began to surface their worst fears were confirmed.
Kyle said: "He always looked older than he was and after he became a Muslim he wanted us to call him Jamal, but we didn't.
"We just can't believe it's him. We're just totally shocked.
"He was very popular at school - especially with the girls - and a real joker who was both intelligent and excellent at sport.
"He was exceptionally athletic, brilliant at sprint events and the long jump and played for the school soccer team.
"He was very well-built - there wasn't an inch of fat on him - and around 13 stones. He played in the centre of defence.
"He was also good at academic subjects - particularly science, maths and English - and was always on the computer.
"He was like any other teenager and wore all the same clothes as us - tracksuit bottoms, sportswear and trainers.
"But all that changed when he returned to the school after the summer holidays for his final year.
"He had converted to Islam, wore the robes and hat and grew a beard. His character was totally different. He was serious and was always reading. It was like he'd aged 30 years in six weeks.
"He was fascinated by world affairs, religion and politics."
No-one knows what had inspired the dramatic conversion even though he did have Asian friends at school.
It remains a mystery to this day.
He would pray in a room at Rawthorpe High School several times a day and also studied Urdu.
Kyle added: "He became the total opposite of what he used to be.
"He was into rap, especially Tupac, and women. But all that changed once he'd converted. It was like he'd been brainwashed.
"He was always saying `Islam is the way', quoting from books and saying it was the only way we should lead our lives.
"He criticised anything he thought was bad behaviour such as drinking and smoking and said we were at school to learn.
"The only time I ever argued with him was after he had converted. Before then we'd never had a disagreement."
Lindsay lived with his mother and young sister in Dalton - and is believed to have converted them to Islam.
They now live in America, although another sister is still thought to be living in Huddersfield.
Samantha was in the same form as Lindsay throughout their time at school. She added: "He was so much changed it was unbelievable.
"We all used to be mates together until that summer holiday.
"We'd see him out and about all the time, but once he'd converted we never saw him again out of school.
"He'd just tell us he was grounded."
She said he had become very intense.
"He had Muslim friends and even they told him he was becoming too extreme," she said.
"He would talk to all his classmates and try to convert them to the Muslim faith.
"He was exceptionally articulate and could be very persuasive."
Kyle added: "He could be soft and gentle yet forceful in his views."
After they all finished school none of them saw Lindsay any more.
"It was just as though he had vanished off the face of the earth," said Kyle.
His terrible reappearance was one a shocked Britain will never forget.
* THE revelation that Jermaine Lindsay was one of the London terror bombers brought shock but not surprise to another former Huddersfield schoolfriend.
He said: "As soon as I heard there was a West Yorkshire link, I thought of Jermaine.
"He converted to Islam and went to the extreme.
"He became an evil bastard to a lot of the people he had grown up with at Rawthorpe High School."
Lindsay attended Stile Common Infants School at Newsome but then moved with his family to Town Avenue, off Leeds Road.
He lived with his mother and younger sister in a Kirklees Council house and started at Rawthorpe Junior School when he was seven.
The 19-year-old former schoolfriend, who did not want to be named, said: "I have known him since 1993 and he was a great lad.
"We had a really good group of friends and Jermaine was always laughing and joking, one of the boys.
"All the way through juniors and on to the high school, he was very popular, a big joker - even if he did wind up the teachers.
"He was very good at art, science and maths, a real clever lad. He was also into sport; no-one could touch him in the athletics sprints and on the rugby field he just tore the other teams apart.
"It was later in the high school that he began listening to what some of the Asian students were saying about Islam.
"Most of us shrugged them off but Jermaine became hooked.
"He started reading all the books he could, and took it to the extreme. He changed completely and became, to be frank, an evil bastard.
"He would abuse some of the Muslim girls who did not want to wear their traditional clothes, and tried to persuade other kids in the class to convert too.
"We laughed it off but he was deadly serious.
"That's why I wasn't surprised when I heard about his involvement but I never thought he would go as far as he has."
The Lindsay family moved to a three-bedroomed council house in Holays at Dalton - only a few hundred yards from the high school.
Lindsay - who by now insisted his friends call him Jamal - left Rawthorpe in 2002 and did not keep in touch with his former friends.
His mother is now living in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States and the FBI have confirmed they are working on the bombing inquiry with their British counterparts.
* EDUCATION chiefs at Kirklees Council refused to release any details about Lindsay's schooling.
A spokesman said: "We have been advised not to make any comment."
* HUDDERSFIELD MP Barry Sheerman expressed sadness and revulsion that one of the terror bombers was brought up in the town.
And he said it was terrible that the actions of 19-year-old Jermaine Lindsay would bring disgrace on the town.
Mr Sheerman, who spent part of yesterday meeting Muslim leaders, said: "I have been out and about in the town with members of the community and they are as shocked and angry as anyone that one of these people should come from Huddersfield.
"I only hope that Huddersfield's good name does not suffer too long because of this."
