British 'Isis Beatle' El Shafee Elsheikh guilty of hostage taking after US trial

14 April 2022, 18:13 | Updated: 14 April 2022, 18:46

An ex-British ISIS jihadist El Shafee Elsheikh has been found guilty of hostage-taking and conspiring to murder journalists and aid workers in Syria.

Prosecutors argued Elsheikh was a member of the 'ISIS Beatles' - a cell of four British-born jihadists who were said to be involved in the murders of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and relief workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.

The 33-year old - known as 'Jihadi George' and 'Jihadi Ringo' was found guilty on all counts following a jury trial in Virginia, just outside Washington, on charges including lethal hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit murder.

The jury delivered the guilty verdict after just five hours of deliberation.

Defence lawyers acknowledged that Elsheikh joined the Islamic State group, but said prosecutors failed to prove he was a Beatle.

The guilty finding came even though none of the surviving hostages could identify Elsheikh as one of their captors.

Elsheikh stood motionless and gave no visible reaction as the verdict was read. He now faces up to a life sentence in prison.

The court in Virginia heard that the accused played a key role in keeping over 20 Western hostages in Syria from 2012 to 2015.

Read More: British jihadist denies membership of ISIS Beatles terror cell in landmark US trial

They also heard the horrifying accounts that he was responsible for "unrelenting and unpredictable" torture. This included "going away beatings", and beating one captive 25 times after learning it was his 25th birthday.

Mr Elsheikh is one of two of the accused group to go on trial in the US along with Alexanda Kotey.

Aine Lesley Davis was convicted and jailed in Turkey. British citizen Mohammed Emwazi - known as 'Jihadi John' - who wielded the knife in the beheading videos was killed in a drone strike in 2015.

Prosecutor John Gibbs said Mr Elsheikh was known for his British accent and particular brutality toward ISIS hostages.

"All [the hostages] experienced brutal mistreatment at the hands of the British men they called the Beatles" and Mr Elsheikh "seemed to get satisfaction from physically abusing the hostages."

He added: "All said the three British men who held them were utterly terrifying. The abuse was unrelenting and unpredictable."

The hostages were said to have been forced to fight each-other, water-boarded and regularly beaten.

The prosecution went on to say there was often no explanation to the violence. "If a hostage looked at any of the three men, they would be beaten," Gibbs said.

"In fact, they did not have to do anything to be beaten."

The court was shown the ISIS propaganda videos that included the beheadings of James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Also described was the experience of relief worker Kayla Mueller, who was torture and repeatedly raped by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.

Spanish journalist Javier Espinosa, who spent three months as an ISIS hostage, said Mr Elsheikh was the "most crazy one."

He added Elsheikh was "the one who was leading the others."