Aine Lesley Davis
Born (1984-02-11) 11 February 1984[1]
London, England
StatusIncarcerated
NationalityBritish
Other names
  • Aine Leslie Rodrigues[2]
  • Jihadi Paul
  • Hamza
SpouseAmal el-Wahabi
Conviction(s)
Criminal penalty
  • 7 years and 6 months in prison (Turkey)
  • 8 years in prison, 2 on licence (United Kingdom)

Aine Lesley Davis (born 11 February 1984), also known as Jihadi Paul, is a British convert to Islam who was convicted in a Turkish court of being a member of a terrorist group while serving as a fighter for the ISIL.[3][4][5]

Personal life

Aine Davis was born in Hammersmith, London on 11 February 1984. He is reported to have been a drug dealer, and is thought to have converted to Islam shortly after being jailed in 2006 for firearms offences.[6]

Davis was married to Amal El-Wahabi, who was born in the United Kingdom to parents of Moroccan origin. She attended Holland Park Comprehensive.[7] El-Wahabi and Davis met at her mosque's daycare, when they were 19 years old. The pair had two children together.[8]

He is thought to have left United Kingdom for Syria in July 2013.[9]

Terrorism conviction of Amal El-Wahabi

In August 2014, El-Wahabi was convicted of funding terrorism, for trying to send 20,000 euros to her husband, described in court as a fighter for ISIL.[10][8]

After his departure El-Wahabi had asked a friend, from Holland Park Comprehensive, to smuggle the funds to Turkey, in her underwear. The Mirror, and other newspapers reporting on the trial, described the friend as having been duped into smuggling funds, without realizing the funds were intended to support terrorism.[11] The friend was acquitted. Messages on El-Wahabi's mobile phone, between herself and Davis, were used by the prosecution to argue that El-Wahabi should have realized Davis was involved in militancy[12] and that funds sent to Davis would be supporting terrorism.[9] Citing text messages the pair exchanged on their mobile phones, the prosecution argued that El-Wahabi arranged the funds transfer to retain Davis's loyalty, because he had talked of taking a second wife.[12]

In November 2014, El-Wahabi received a 28-month sentence, half of which she would have to serve in custody.[9]

Foreign captives

ISIL held some European and North American captives, and it was widely reported that they were tortured, subjected to mock executions, and some of them were ultimately beheaded.[10] Four United Kingdom guards, dubbed The Beatles, were alleged to have played a central role in their abuse. The most vocal, who appeared in several videos, issuing threats, was dubbed "Jihadi John". Davis, whose identity had not been established, was alleged to have been "Jihadi Paul".

Prosecution

Turkish capture and conviction

Davis was captured by Turkish security officials, in Istanbul, on 12 November 2015.[10] A Turkish court subsequently convicted him of being a member of a terrorist group and sentenced him to seven and a half years in jail.[13]

At his trial in 2017, Davis denied being a member of Islamic State. He claimed to have been living in Gaziantep, Turkey and to have visited Syria on only two occasions to do "aid work". He further claimed to have travelled to Istanbul with the purpose of obtaining a fake passport as he was aware he was a "wanted man". He admitted being acquainted with Mohammed Emwazi, aka Jihadi John, having attended the same mosque, in London but denied encountering him in Syria. He claimed a photo of him, posing with armed fighters, dated to 2013, and he had taken it as a joke in Idlib and did not know who the gunmen were.[10]

Call for trial in the United Kingdom

In February 2018, several captives who had endured abuse by the surviving members of "The Beatles", called for them to face prosecution in the United Kingdom.[14][15]

Deportation to the United Kingdom and further terrorism charges

On 10 August 2022, Davis was deported[16] from Turkey to the United Kingdom. Upon arrival at Luton Airport, he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command and taken into custody under various sections of the Terrorism Act 2000.[17][13] On 11 August 2022, he was charged under sections 15, 17 and 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and remanded into custody.[18]

On 10 March 2023, Davis appeared at the Old Bailey for his plea hearing on charges of possessing a firearm "for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism" and two charges of funding terrorism. Entering a plea of "not guilty", he was remanded into custody by Judge Mark Lucraft KC pending a further hearing on 18 April 2023.[19][20]

On 16 October, Davis appeared in court again, where he pleaded guilty to all three charges. His sentencing was scheduled for 13 November.[21] On 13 November he was sentenced to 8 years in prison, consisting of 6 years for the firearms charge and 2 years for the fundraising charges. He was further sentenced to 2 years on licence once his prison term is up.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "British jihadist at the heart of terrorist network terror in Syria and Iraq".
  2. ↑ "CPS authorised charges against Aine Davis | The Crown Prosecution Service". www.cps.gov.uk.
  3. ↑ "Suspected British ally of Mohammed Emwazi being held in Turkey". The Guardian. 13 November 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  4. ↑ "Exclusive: Briton accused of being Jihadi John's accomplice on trial over new IS terror plot". ITV News. 5 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "Jihadi John associate Aine Davis jailed in Turkey on terrorism charges". The Independent. 9 May 2017. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  6. ↑ Chulov, Martin; Grierson, Jamie (9 May 2017). "British jihadi Aine Davis convicted in Turkey on terror charges". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  7. ↑ Sabin, Lamiat (6 November 2014). "I went to the UK's 'School of Jihadis', and I can't believe how it has". The Independent.
  8. 1 2 Laville, Sandra; Gardham, Duncan (13 August 2014). "Two unlikely jihadis: the 'weed-smoking kaffir' and the ignorant dupe". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 Dominic Casciani (13 November 2014). "Woman jailed for funding Syria jihad". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2018. Davis, a former drug dealer with a conviction for possessing a firearm, left the UK in July 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Simon Hooper (9 May 2017). "British 'Islamic State Beatle' jailed in Turkish trial". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2018. Aine Davis is alleged to have been a close associate of Muhammed Emwazi, the IS executioner dubbed "Jihadi John," who appeared in a series of beheading videos in 2014 and 2015. He was one of the so-called "Beatles," a quartet of British IS militants tasked with guarding foreign prisoners in Raqqa, according to media reports and the accounts of former captives.
  11. ↑ Anthony Bond (13 November 2014). "ISIS: Young mum jailed after trying to send cash to Jihadi husband fighting in Syria". The Mirror (UK). Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2018. Amal El-Wahabi, 28, hoodwinked an old school friend into agreeing to take £15,830 in cash to Turkey for her husband Aine Davis, a drug dealer who went to Syria to fight in July last year.
  12. 1 2 Kashmira Gander (13 August 2014). "British student Nawal Msaad cleared of attempting to smuggle cash to Syrian jihadists in her underwear". The Independent. Retrieved 11 February 2018. The jury was also shown a "selfie" Davis sent her, as well as videos containing jihadist propaganda. But El-Wahabi denied knowledge of any terrorist activities or their funding. In her defence, she denied Davis was in Syria, and claimed he left Britain to look for work and stop drug dealing.
  13. 1 2 Sandford, Daniel; Faulkner, Doug (10 August 2022). "Aine Davis: Alleged fourth IS 'Beatle' arrested in UK on terror charges". BBC News.
  14. ↑ Martin Chulov (9 February 2018). "The jihadist 'Beatles': Britons who became the face of Isis cruelty". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. The original cell of four Britons had included Mohammed Emwazi, the brutal executioner killed by a US drone in November 2015, and Aine Lesley Davis, who was captured in Istanbul in the same month.
  15. ↑ Danica Kirka (10 February 2018). "Ex-hostages want British kidnappers put on trial in U.K." The Courier. London. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018. Former Islamic State hostages and families of the group's victims are urging Britain and the United States to put two recently captured extremists on trial, arguing that denying them justice will fuel the hatred and violence they supported.
  16. ↑ Hamilton, Fiona (10 August 2022). "'Isis Beatle' Aine Davis arrested at Luton airport".
  17. ↑ Middleton, Joe (10 August 2022). "Fourth alleged Isis 'Beatle' Aine Davis arrested at Luton Airport". The Independent.
  18. ↑ "Alleged fourth 'IS Beatle' charged with terrorism offences". BBC News. 11 August 2022.
  19. ↑ Kirk, Tristan (10 March 2023). "Suspected ISIS member denies funding terrorism". Evening Standard.
  20. ↑ "Man arrested at Luton Airport denies string of terrorism offences". BBC News. 10 March 2023.
  21. ↑ Sandford, Daniel (16 October 2023). "Alleged 'IS Beatle' Aine Davis pleads guilty to terrorism charges". BBC News.
  22. ↑ "Friend of 'IS Beatle' jailed for terrorism offences". BBC News. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
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