John Profumo’s nephew held as he comes home after fighting jihadis in Syria
THE great-nephew of shamed 1960s secretary of state for war John Profumo has been arrested as he returned to the UK after allegedly travelling to Syria to fight Islamic State.
Jamie Janson, 42, is one of dozens of Westerners claimed to have signed up to fight with Kurdish rebels against IS in the warravaged country.
He was arrested by police in Folkestone, Kent, on Tuesday after entering the UK on a coach from France.
The grandson of Lord Balfour was said to have ended up fighting with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in their battle against Turkish forces in Afrin, a Kurdish-held area of northern Syria, earlier this year.
He was held by Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command under section 5 of the Terrorism Act before being released on bail, pending further inquiries.
Mr Janson said he and the other foreign fighters with the Kurdish group were smuggled out of Afrin into government-held areas after the city was captured by Turkish and Syrian rebel forces in March.
From there he crossed the border to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, where he flew to Brussels before travelling to France. He then took a ferry to Dover.
‘I was taken off the bus at Folkestone and arrested. It was a pretty scary process,’ he told The Daily Telegraph.
‘I was released under investigation after a night in the cell. Police treated me very well and it has been amazing to see my family again after so long.’
Mr Janson’s grandparents were the World War One flying ace Harold Harington Balfour, 1st Baron Balfour of Inchrye, and Mary Ainslie Profumo, the sister of John Profumo.
As secretary of state for war in the early 1960s, Mr Profumo was caught up in a scandal involving call girl Christine Keeler and the Russian naval attache in London.
The fallout of the affair dealt the final blow to the post-war respect for state institutions and paved the way for the rebellious Sixties. Mr Janson’s family expressed their relief at hearing he was alive, despite the prospect of criminal charges against him.
His brother Christopher, 33, said: ‘It’s a huge relief he is alive and safe.
‘I received a text saying he had been bailed after being arrested on his way back into the country and he is now staying pleased with to be friends. back.’ He’s very No British citizen has been convicted for fighting against IS, although the authorities have said they will take action. The law is unclear on what would happen if volunteers engage in battle with a UN member state. Mr Janson decided to take up arms while working for an aid agency near Mosul, northern Iraq. He had previously volunteered in refugee camps in Calais and Greece.
His family learnt that he was fighting IS when he sent them a picture of himself wearing fatigues and holding a Kalashnikov, which his father Martin said left him ‘horrified’.
Earlier this year he spoke of his remorse at the torment he had caused his loved ones. Speaking from Syria, he said: ‘I feel guilty about how much I have put my family through. Being out here will be a great worry for them.’
He cited Lord Balfour, who wrote about his war experiences in a number of books, as a particular ‘inspiration’.
He said he was ‘deeply ashamed’ of Britain’s interventions in the Middle East and wanted to help Syrian Kurds create an autonomous state. He added he was ‘well aware’ he could face prosecution on his return to the UK.
Asked by the BBC what motivated his son to take up arms, his father said: ‘Protecting the underdog, ready to help people, starving people – he wants to do something to help others, most of all.’
The Metropolitan Police said: ‘A man arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences as part of an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command has been released under investigation. The arrest related to the Syrian conflict.’
‘It was a pretty scary process’