Judge: Why I’m now giving Jihadi Jack’s devoted, desperate parents their freedom
THE parents of ‘Jihadi Jack’ were freed on bail yesterday after a judge insisted they were a ‘perfectly decent’ middleclass couple.
Organic farmer John Letts, 55, and his wife Sally Lane, 54, were remanded in custody last Thursday accused of wiring £1,700 to their son who is suspected of joining Islamic State in Syria.
A district judge had revoked their bail over fears they would send more cash to the 20-year-old.
But yesterday one of the country’s most senior judges said the couple had only acted out of oncern for their child.
Granting them conditional bail at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Saunders said they wanted to help their son escape a ‘desperately dangerous situation’.
Speaking about the more junior judge, he said: ‘She took the view... the defendants were devoted parents who believed that their son was in mortal danger and, as many parents would, they would stop at nothing to remove him from that danger.’
But he was satisfied the couple would not attempt to send any more money now they have realised this would be a serious criminal offence.
‘Two perfectly decent people have ended up in custody because of the love of their child,’ he said. Describing their time behind bars, he added: ‘I have no doubt that they have found that very difficult.’
Letts appeared via video link from Wandsworth jail wearing a sling after ‘aggravating an existing injury’ and held his head in his hands. His wife appeared from Bronzefield prison in Surrey.
Their son Jack Letts is suspected of being one of the first white Britons to join the militant group after he travelled to Syria last year. His parents have insisted he has been in the Middle East for humanitarian reasons. Jack, who now goes by the name Ibrahim or Abu Muhammed, is known to have been living in the Iraqi city of Fallujah and Raqqa in Syria. Letts and Lane are accused of sending £1,700 to their son between September 2015 and January 2016 despite being warned by police to stop.
They claim that an officer told them they could send money if it was to help him escape.
At an earlier hearing a prosecutor said the couple had been told three times their actions were not permitted. They deny knowing the money would be used for the ‘purposes of terrorism’.
The judge said: ‘These two are clearly desperately concerned about their son and information that they have had would indicate to them – and they appear to believe it – that if they were to send money to their son, he would be able to get out of the desperately dangerous situation he is in...
‘With perfectly decent parents in that situation, how can I be sure that they would not be just moved by compassion to their son and send money out there?’
Letts and Lane deny three counts of entering an arrangement to make money available for terrorist purposes.
Lane denies a further two counts of attempting to transfer money knowing it might be used for terrorism. They are due to appear in court again on June 23.
An exhausted- looking Lane arrived at her £600,000 Oxford home last night on her bicycle carrying an overnight bag. When asked if she felt the police were over-reacting, she replied: ‘That would be an understatement.’