'ISIS Beatles' death squad member jailed for eight years after being found guilty in knicker-smuggling terror case
13 November 2023, 14:00 | Updated: 13 November 2023, 14:14
A British Muslim man suspected of being an ISIS ‘Beatles’ member has today been sentenced to eight years in jail for a string of terror offences.
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Aine Leslie Davis, 39, previously served a seven-and-a-half-year sentence in Turkey for membership of Islamic State before being deported in August last year.
Davis - who is suspected of being a member of the so-called Islamic State death squad dubbed ‘The Beatles’ - was charged by British counter-terrorism police with three offences following his detainment following his arrival at Luton Airport.
Davis pleaded guilty to funding terrorism by persuading his then-wife to try and smuggle some 20,000 euros (£17,400) to him in Syria, via a friend who stuffed the money in her underwear between 2013 and 2014.
Last month, he also admitted to possession of a firearm under Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000. He had sent his wife a picture of him posing with a Kalashnikov assault rifle alongside other fighters.
He was also charged with two counts of funding terrorism. The Court of Appeal dismissed a bid for the charges to be dropped.
Davis and his legal team accused British authorities of ‘conniving’ with their Turkish counterparts following his deportation last year.
Islam convert Davis has previously denied being one of the 'Beatles' - who were given the nickname by Western hostages in Syria because of their English accents.
'Beatles' cell ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, widely known as Jihadi John, was killed in a drone strike in 2015.
Londoner Alexanda Kotey was jailed in the US in April for his part in the torture and murder of American hostages.
His co-defendant, El Shafee Elsheikh, will be sentenced in August for his role in the plot.
The group became infamous for holding hostage around two dozen Westerners a decade ago when Islamic State still controlled much of Syria and Iraq.
They committed several gruesome beheadings including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning.
Davis had previously been arrested in 2015 in Turkey and convicted for being a member of Islamic State in 2017. He denied being one of ‘The Beatles’ during his trial.
