ISIS ‘Beatle’ told his victim’s daughter that his last words were ‘can you make it quick?’ while Jihadi John delayed beheading to film propaganda
- Daughter of UK aid worker murdered by ISIS militants reveals last words
- Bethany Haines said her father David asked Jihadi John to ‘make it quick’
- Details of his final moments were recalled to her by terrorist Alexanda Kotey
The devastated daughter of a British aid worker brutally by Islamic State militants dubbed ‘the Beatles’ has learned of her father’s final chilling plea to his captors before being put to death by Jihadi John.
Bethany Haines said her father David asked the ringleader of the terror cell Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, to ‘make it quick’ when he was led away to be killed in 2014.
Details of his final moments were recalled to her in a two-hour US meeting with UK-born terrorist Alexanda Kotey in Virginia.
Kotey, 37, was jailed for life in April for his part in the torture and murder of western hostages.
An emotional Miss Haines, 24, told ITV News: ‘He [Kotey] told me that Jihadi John had been away to execute my father and my father knew what was coming, closed his eyes, and said, “Can you make it quick?” I can picture him saying that, in his orange jumpsuit, with his eyes closed. I can picture him saying, “Please make it quick”.’
She also said Kotey revealed that her father’s death was delayed to give his killers time to film from different angles for their gruesome propaganda video, which sent shockwaves around the world.
Former RAF worker Mr Haines, from Perth, was captured by militants in Syria in March 2013 while delivering aid to the war-torn country. His remains have never been discovered.
Bethany Haines said her father’s final wish was recalled to her during a two-hour face-to-face meeting with Londoner Alexanda Kotey in Virginia, US, where he was jailed in April for his part in the torture and murder of western hostages
Bethany Haines, the daughter of David Haines, who was murdered by Islamic State militants
Bethany Haines with father David Haines
The brother of murdered aid worker David Haines has said that seeing a member of the ISIS Beatles who killed his sibling jailed for life brought him ‘a sense of closure’.
Mike Haines, 55, joined the families of other victims in court in Alexandria, Virginia, last week as Londoner Alexanda Kotey was sentenced for his role in the terror cell’s murder of four hostages.
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain in May, Mr Haines told hosts Kate Garraway and Richard Madeley how he ‘expected to feel hate and anger’.
He said: ‘I expected to feel anger, I expected to feel hate. When I faced him it was grim satisfaction that he was in a court of law with his rights held up to the highest degree. It was a sense of closure.’
Mr Haines also revealed how the trauma of his brothers execution effectively killed his parents.
‘My mum slowly gave up on life and she slowly faded away until her death,’ he said.
‘My dad…in the 48 hours after I told my parents that David had gone, his dementia got so much worse…again he slowly faded.’
Miss Haines said Kotey told her he had followed her father for a couple of days before abducting him, and apologised for his role in the murder. She said: ‘I asked for an apology.
‘I pressed on with it and eventually he did say, “I am sorry for” – he just used my words for it – “abducting and hurting your dad”. Did he mean it? No.’
Kotey may yet be brought back to the UK to be charged with the deaths of other hostages, including Mr Haines.
Kotey’s co-defendant, El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, will be sentenced in August for his role in the plot.
The pair were captured in 2018 as Syrian forces regained territory from IS. Both were stripped of their UK citizenship before their extradition to the US.
Jihadi John was killed in a 2015 drone strike. The three, along with a fourth man Aine Davis, were known to their Western captives as the ‘Beatles’ because of their British accents.
In April, Miss Haines confronted Kotey in the dock after he was sentenced to life. She walked up to him in court and pointed her finger as she said: ‘Why don’t you go rot in hell.’
Kotey admitted eight charges of kidnap, torture and executing hostages.
In passing sentence, trial Judge TS Ellis described his behaviour as ‘egregious, violent and inhuman’.
It follows reports that one Islamic State’s so-called ‘Beatles’ terrorists could be back on British streets within days after being freed from a Turkish jail.
Aine Davis, 38, from London, faces being arrested by counter-terror police when he lands in this country, the Daily Mail understands – but there are also fears he could then go free.
He was part of a terror cell dubbed ‘the Beatles’ thanks to their British accents by Westerners they held hostage. US authorities say they tortured and beheaded 27 hostages, including British aid workers Mr Haines and Alan Henning in 2014.
Davis, known as ‘Jihadi Paul’, is due to be deported by authorities in Istanbul on July 9 after serving a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for terrorism offences.
It remains unclear whether UK prosecutors will be able to bring charges against Davis here – raising the prospect of him being able to walk the streets under a ‘terrorism prevention and investigation measure’, which would let the authorities restrict his movements, limit who he can associate with and track him using an electronic tag.
Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of counter-terrorism think-tank the Henry Jackson Society, said the case highlighted the need for changes to anti-terror laws.
Mike Haines with his brother David (left) in the late 1990s. David was captured by militants in Syria in March 2013 while delivering aid to the war-torn country
ISIS militant Jihadi John, one of the so-called ‘Beatles’, pictured with a hostage
‘A dangerous jihadist is heading back to the UK after a career of extreme violence and we can do nothing about it except spend vast sums to monitor him,’ he said.
‘We need urgent reform of legislation to ensure national security threats like this are dealt with far from these shores.’
Davis is likely to face intensive questioning by detectives about his activities and associates when he arrives here.
Mr Henning’s brother, Reg, said last night that Britain should deny him entry. ‘He’s British when it suits him,’ said Mr Henning, of Bury, Greater Manchester. ‘He left to join Islamic State, but is thinking ‘I’ll go back to Britain because they’re nice and soft’.’
Davis was convicted of being an IS member in 2017, two years after being arrested in Istanbul. Prosecutors accused him of being a ‘high-ranking operative’ of IS. But he denied being in the group, claiming he had been in Syria for aid work.
At the time he was the subject of an Interpol red notice from British police after his wife, Amal el-Wahabi, was jailed here for 28 months for trying to send him 20,000 euros. His link to that case means he could be prosecuted for preparing acts of terrorism abroad, which can lead to life in jail.
The leader of the Islamic State Beatles, Mohammed Emwazi, or ‘Jihadi John’, was killed by a US drone in Raqqa in 2015. The others, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, are in a US jail after being caught by Kurdish forces.
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