'Beatle' El Shafee Elsheikh sentenced to life in jail for role in Islamic State killings
A British national believed to be a member of an Islamic State terror cell dubbed 'the Beatles' has been sentenced to life in prison in the United States.
El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, was found guilty of his role in a hostage-taking scheme which involved torturing, beating and executing prisoners.
He showed no emotion as judge Thomas Selby Ellis delivered his verdict at Alexandria District Court, Virginia, while members of his victims’ families watched on.
Elsheikh was given a life sentence for each of the eight counts he was convicted of in April, which are due to run concurrently.
In 2019, El Shafee Elsheikh denied being involved in the detention of David Haines to ITV News but apologised for the parts he admitted being involved in
Addressing the jihadist, judge Ellis said: “The behaviour of this defendant and his co-defendant can only be described as horrific, barbaric, brutal and callous.
The jihadist, who grew up in London, is suspected of being one of a gang of four IS militants nicknamed 'the Beatles' by their captives due to their British accents, and is the last of the group to face his fate.
The cell, believed to be made up of ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, Aine Davis, Alexanda Kotey, and Elsheikh, was allegedly responsible for the brutal killings of several Western and Japanese captives, including Britons Alan Henning and David Haines.
The notorious group became known for their cruelty - torturing and beating prisoners, forcing them to fight each other until they collapsed, and to sing cruel song parodies.
None of the surviving hostages could identify Elsheikh as one of their captors, as although the 'Beatles' had distinctive accents, they always hid their faces behind masks and threatened to beat hostages if they made avoid eye contact.
The three American men that Elsheikh was charged in connection with were executed in videotaped beheadings broadcast online.
Ms Mueller was enslaved and raped multiple times by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.
Defence lawyers acknowledged that Elsheikh joined IS but said prosecutors failed to prove he was a 'Beatle' - citing a lack of clarity about which 'Beatle' was which, and confusion about whether there were three or four 'Beatles'.
In 2019, ITV News quizzed Elsheikh about the death of Briton David Haines.
The four were said to have been among 26 hostages taken between 2012 and 2015, when the Islamic State group dominated large areas in Iraq and Syria.
Elsheikh was captured alongside Kotey in Syria in 2018 by the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces while trying to escape to Turkey.
Last year, Kotey pleaded guilty to eight counts relating to his involvement, while Davis was jailed in Turkey before being deported to the UK last week, and Emwazi was killed in a drone strike.
Kotey was sentenced to life in prison in the US for his role in the killings in June.
The Metropolitan Police said this week the four men were identified because Kotey and Elsheikh were arrested at an English Defence League (EDL) counter-protest in London in September 2011.
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