A man accused of being the fourth member of the Islamic State cell known as The Beatles has been charged in the United Kingdom with terror offenses.
Aine Leslie Davis, 38, was arrested at Luton airport outside of London after being deported to the UK from Turkey. He flew into Luton after being released from jail in Ankara, Turkey, where he served a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for membership of the
He was charged with terror offenses in 2014 and possession of a firearm for a purpose connected with terrorism. He will appear at Westminster magistrates court today.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan police in London said he was charged with offenses contrary to sections 15, 17, and 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and has been remanded in police custody before his Westminster magistrates court appearance.
Davis is from west London. He left the UK to join the Islamic State, referred to as IS, ISIS, and ISIL, in 2013. He was arrested near Istanbul in 2015. When he was arrested in Turkey, he was convicted by a Turkey court two years later of being a senior member of a terrorist organization.
The United States has said the cell killed 27 hostages, recording the beheading of several of them and posting the videos online.
During the trial in Turkey, Davis admitted he attended the same mosque as Mohammed Emwazi, the British executioner known as “Jihadi John.” He denied being part of the kidnap gang once they traveled to Syria. Jihadi John was killed in a 2015 air strike.
In April in the United States, another British man accused of being in the Beatles group was sentenced to life in prison. Alexanda Kotex, 38, originally from West London, was convicted in Virginia. Members of his victims’ families and friends watched in court.
He was given a life sentence for each of the eight counts to which he pleaded guilty last year when he admitted responsibility for the deaths of four American hostages in Syria, as well as kidnapping and torturing numerous journalists and relief workers.
El Shafee Elsheikh, a Sudanese-born Londoner, was convicted in Virginia over his involvement with the cell. He was found guilty of lethal hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit murder. His sentencing is due on August 19.
Be the first to comment