British Police Arrest Man Suspected Last Member Of ISIS Cell 'The Beatles' At London Airport

Illustration ISIS. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA)

JAKARTA - A man accused of being part of an ISIS cell dubbed 'The Beatles', has been arrested on terror charges by British police at London airport, England.

The man, named Aine Davis, arrived at Luton Airport, London, after being released from prison in Ankara, Turkey, where he was serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for being accused of being a member of a terrorist group.

The arrests at the airport were made by the command and anti-terror unit of the Metropolitan Police (The Met) and then taken to a police station in south London. The Met said he was arrested for violating articles 15, 17, and 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

"We will always ensure the safety and security of the UK, and will not allow anything to jeopardize this", said a Home Office spokesperson.

"We can confirm that a British national has been deported from Turkey to the UK, but it is inappropriate to comment further while the police investigation is ongoing."

During his trial in Turkey, Davis denied being part of the cell of the London members, nicknamed 'The Beatles' by their hostages because of their British accents. The group is said to consist of Mohammed Emwazi, Alexanda Kotey, El Shafee Elsheikh, and Davis.

Before becoming radicalized, Davis was convicted of drug offenses and jailed in 2006 for possession of a firearm. Davis, who left Britain to join ISIS in 2013, was arrested near Istanbul in 2015.

He was convicted by a Turkish court two years later for being a senior member of a terrorist organization. US authorities say 'The Beatles' killed 27 hostages, beheaded several of them, and filmed the process for later uploading online.

During the trial, he admitted to visiting the same place of worship as Emwazi, the British executioner known as 'Jihadi John' in West London. However, he denied being part of the group.

Lately, the fate of the members of this group is different. Emwazi was killed by a drone strike in November 2015, the day Davis was arrested by Turkish police.

Meanwhile, Kotey, from Paddington, West London, was sentenced to life in Virginia, the United States in April. The sentences were for each of the eight charges he confessed last year, ranging from the deaths of four US hostages in Syria to the kidnapping and torture of numerous journalists and aid workers.

Elsheikh, a Sudanese-born Londoner, was convicted in Virginia for his involvement with the group. He was found guilty of deadly hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit murder. He will be sentenced on August 19.

Both Kotey and Elsheikh, who were extradited to the United States in 2019, were stripped of their British citizenship.