An IS terrorist who was part of a beheading gang dubbed The Beatles has applied to move back to his ‘home country’ Britain so he can be closer to family and friends.
El Shafee Elsheikh – known as Jihadi Ringo – is currently serving life in a high-security US jail after he was convicted in 2022 of hostage-taking and conspiring to murder.
His gang videoed the killings of captives, of which one was aid worker David Haines – whose daughter Bethany has called Elsheikh’s bid to move prisons an ‘outrageous insult’.
Elsheikh was born in Sudan and grew up in London but had his British citizenship revoked in 2018.
The gang’s victims also included Americans James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
Elsheikh was tried by a Federal jury in Virginia and handed eight life sentences.
He has now applied to be switched from his Colorado prison to a UK jail under the International Prisoner Transfer Program, claiming he would like to be closer to family and friends, The Sun reports.
Families of the victims fear Elsheikh could be moved to somewhere like London’s Belmarsh where convicts have access to a number of luxuries like TVs and games consoles and can mix with other extremists.
US President Donald Trump’s Deputy Assistant Sebastian Gorka recently called for the UK to honour a ‘commitment’ to take back IS Brits.
Bethany, whose father was tortured and starved before being publicly beheaded, said: ‘He left this country to bring terror to the world and inflicted the most appalling treatment on my father and others when he held him captive.
‘He is one of the worst terrorists to come from this country and it’s an outrageous insult to our families for him to apply to return to one of our prisons for an easier life.’
A US notice sent to victims’ relatives, seen by The Sun, says: ‘This is to inform you that El Shafee Elsheikh has applied to transfer to the UK, the country of which the inmate is a national.
‘The United States has prisoner transfer relationships with many countries.
‘These treaties permit foreign nationals to apply to transfer and serve their sentence in their home country. Before making a decision, the US collects information about the prisoner, the views of law enforcement and any views provided by victims.’
Mr Haines, of Perth in Scotland, was abducted while working at a refugee camp in Syria in 2013. He was held hostage by Elsheikh, Kotey, Mohammed Emwazi and Aine Davis.
A horrific 2014 video showed Mr Haines kneeled next to knife-wielding Emwazi – dubbed Jihadi John – and eventually beheaded.
The Ministry of Justice said: ‘We have not received any application from the US, but we have the right to refuse any request.’
A spokesman added any prisoners who are transferred will serve the rest of their sentence in Britain.
Daughter Bethany said: ‘As well as better conditions here, my biggest fear is he one day walks free and would be allowed to live within hours of the same place I live. It’s a horrible thought.’
Bethany and other relatives were given 30 days to make submissions to the US Department for Justice, which sent out its notice earlier this month.
In her concerns the bereaved daughter said she was worried Elsheikh would receive cushy treatment in the UK, adding the ‘sociopath and narcissist’ in reality had ‘no real interest’ in returning to be closer to family.
She said the convicted terrorist was ‘manipulating the system to receive better conditions in prison’ and so he could ’cause further pain to the victims’ families’.
The IS Beatles were given their name by hostages who noticed their distinctive British accents.
All the hostages except Ms Mueller were executed in videotaped beheadings that ISIS released online.
Ms Mueller was forced into slavery and raped multiple times by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.
The deaths of Foley, Sotloff and Kassig were confirmed in 2014, while Ms Mueller’s death was confirmed in early 2015.
Elsheikh’s sentencing hearing came on the eight-year anniversary of the day that ISIS uploaded a video to YouTube showing the gruesome beheading of Foley.
Foley’s mother Diane spoke to reporters following the sentencing hearing, saying: ‘Today we remember four extraordinary young Americans.
‘These brave Americans saw the suffering of the Syrian people and decided to help, whether by providing humanitarian aid or telling the world about the tragic Syrian crisis.
‘The left a legacy of profound moral courage.’
The charges against Elsheikh, whose British citizenship was withdrawn in 2018, carried a potential death sentence, but US prosecutors had agreed not seek his execution in a deal with British officials to carry forward the case.
Elsheikh’s trial, and emotional testimony from the families of his victims, gripped observers on both sides of the Atlantic.
‘This prosecution unmasked the vicious and sadistic ISIS Beatles,’ said First Assistant US Attorney Raj Parekh, noting that Elsheikh and the other Beatles always wore masks when they appeared in front of their hostages.
‘This is one of the most significant international terrorism cases ever brought to trial,’ said Commander Richard Smith, head of counterterrorism at London’s Metropolitan Police Service.
