Jihadi Jack reveals: ‘I’d go back to the UK... it’s my home’
BRITISH Muslim convert “Jihadi Jack” revealed last night he wants to return to Britain.
Oxford-born Jack Letts, who was given the nickname after running away to Syria in 2014, said he believed “no one really cares” about him.
After spending two years in a Kurdish prison, he said he fears nothing will be done by the UK to bring him back.
He admitted to being homesick and missed a number of comforts of British life, including pasties and episodes of Doctor Who.
He said: “If the UK accepted me then I’d go back to the UK, it’s my home. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
The British-Canadian, 23, described how he reached Syria in 2014 after dropping out of school aged 18.
He was hauled into prison after being charged by the YPG, the armed wing of the Kurdish leftist Democratic Union Party, of being a member of Islamic State.
Letts, who holds dual nationality through his Canadian father John and British mother Sally Lane, said he had no communication with his parents in two years and doubted officials from either nation will “come and help me”.
His mother and father face going on trial in Britain over claims they funded terrorism by sending him cash during his time in Syria. But they have denied that was the case.
Letts learned Arabic in Jordan and went on to live in Iraq before heading to Syria. There he ended up marrying an Iraqi woman, who gave birth to his son. He was arrested on his way to Turkey as he tried to leave Syria.
He said he missed home and added: “I miss people mostly. I miss my mum. I know that sounds a bit toddlerish. What else do I miss? I miss pasties. And Doctor Who. Sounds a bit stupid. That’s all.”
He has spoken out in the wake of IS bride Shamima Begum, who is based in a Kurdish camp in Syria, being stripped of her British citizenship.
Letts, who has still never seen his son and remains unaware of his wife’s location, added: “I don’t think I’m going to be given back to Britain... or some Canadian official is going to come and help me because no one really cares.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual cases, but any decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are based on all available evidence and not taken lightly.”