Hands in pockets and casually dressed, he looks like a typical teenager as he poses with Ed Balls when he was Labour Education Secretary.
Reyaad Khan, 15, was said to be thrilled when Mr Balls visited his youth club in Cardiff in July 2009 as the teenager had dreamed of becoming Britain’s first Asian prime minister.
Khan also spoke of the need to rid the world of evil.
But, fast forward five years, and he has become a notorious jihadi terrorist.
Then: Khan (circled left) in a group picture with Mr Balls, then Education Secretary, at a youth centre in 2009
Now: Khan aged 20 in an Islamic State recruitment video from Syria which was released earlier this year
Now 20, he is fighting for Islamic State in Syria and was featured in June with two other Britons in a propaganda video for the radicals.
He has since boasted of preparing for ‘martyrdom’ and also claimed he is planning on ‘fireworks’ – sparking fears that he could be part of a wave of suicide attacks against US interests in the north of the country.
Of course, Mr Balls could not have foreseen that Khan would develop a murderous hatred of anyone who opposes his bloodthirsty comrades in Islamic State.
Just a year after the picture was taken, Khan spoke on a film of his wish to rid the world of ‘evil’ and of the problems of growing up in a deprived inner-city area.
In an interview at the time, he argued the government wasted resources on ‘illegal wars’ and said more money ought to be spent on young people to help prevent them being led down the ‘wrong path’.
Speaking in a faint Welsh accent, Khan detailed the challenges of avoiding criminality in the Cardiff neighbourhood where he grew up, claiming there were fewer chances for younger people to succeed.
He said teenagers from minority ethnic backgrounds suffered stereotyping.
Asked if the world was a good place, he said: ‘The world can be a lovely place but you’ve just got to get rid of the evil. If everyone could choose the good, the evil will go away.’
Propaganda: Khan, left, appeared in the recruitment video (pictured) alongside other jihadists in Syria
He sat on a local youth forum, and said on Facebook that he wanted to be the first British Asian to become prime minister.
The photo of Khan and Mr Balls was taken on 23 July 2009. The then Education Secretary was escorted on the hour-long visit to the youth centre by local Labour MP Kevin Brennan.
According to a local newspaper report, Mr Balls listened to rap and hip-hop music, had a go at mixing sounds on decks and tried out his keyboard skills.
The South Wales Echo quoted him as saying: 'There’s so much talent and invention amongst young people. Having equipment such as the music studio and specialised support is a huge part of making Riverside Warehouse a success’.
Described as a 'multi-cultural community centre', Riverside Warehouse received most of its funding last year in the form of a £69,400 grant from the Labour-led Welsh Assembly government.
Until very recently it was run by Safer Wales, a charity that works on hate crime and domestic violence.
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