Eight life sentences for British 'Beatles' terrorist who kidnapped and tortured

Words by ITV News' Alex Chandler

Convicted Islamic State terrorist, El Shafee Elsheikh was brought into the same Alexandria courtroom shortly after 9am on Friday, where a jury had found him guilty in April on eight charges of hostage-taking, conspiracy to murder and being a member of a terrorist organisation. 

Dressed in his dark green prison-issued jumpsuit, with the words 'Alexandria Inmate' printed on the back, he sat impassively as the prosecution made their argument for the maximum sentence possible.

The families of the murdered hostages and those who escaped his brutality in Syria watched on.

The court listened in absolute silence as four victim impact statements were made by the released Danish hostage, Daniel Ottosen; Diane Foley, the mother of murdered American journalist, James Foley; Fernando Collina, James' uncle; and Monica Garcia Prieto, the wife of released hostage Javier Espinosa. 

Each of them shared with the court the enduring impact of Elsheikh's actions.

Diane Foley addressing Elsheikh directly, told him: "Hatred overtook your humanity."

The sentencing of El Shafee Elsheikh will bring to an end the quest for justice for the families of the victims of the Islamic State 'Beatles', Robert Moore reports

She struggled to maintain her composure, weeping as she recalled August 19th 2014, the day news of her son's beheading reached her and the world.

She told Elsheikh: "Your hateful crimes did not kill James, he lives on....love is so much stronger than hatred."

The judge, Thomas Ellis III, called Elsheikh to the podium to sentence him, saying: "The behaviour of the defendant can only be described as horrific, barbaric, brutal, callous and of course criminal."

He said his sentencing would reflect the seriousness of the crimes, impose respect for the law and be just punishment, and passed a life term for each of the eight guilty verdicts.

The judge said nothing in Elsheikh's background justified his actions, he was not brutalised nor barbarically treated by the British system or Britain.

Elsheikh declined the opportunity afforded to him to address the court, maintaining his silence as he did throughout his two-week-long trial. He did, however, instruct his lawyers to immediately appeal the sentence.

Elsheikh now faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in a high-security American prison, probably ADX Florence in Colorado, where prisoners spend 23 hours a day locked in their cells.

For the families, today's sentencing brings the legal side of the story to a close.

But as Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of Kayla Mueller an American aid worker told me, they are members of a club which no one wants to be part of, and like the other families and former hostages will live with the consequences of Elsheikh's crimes forever.

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