Terror case dropped against former British soldier who fought Isil in Syria

♦ Charges against a former soldier who travelled to Syria to fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have been dropped.

James Matthews, 43, joined Kurdish forces targeting extremists but was charged after returning to Britain to attend the funeral of Jac Holmes, a fellow British volunteer who was killed in Raqqa in late 2017.

In the first case of its kind, he was charged with receiving instruction or training in Iraq and Syria “for purposes connected to the commission or preparation of terrorism”. Matthews from Dalston, east London, was due to face an Old Bailey trial in November.

However, at a hearing before Mr Justice Edis yesterday, prosecutor Tom Little QC announced that the Crown had concluded there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction on “evidential grounds”, formally clearing the ex-soldier of any wrongdoing.

Joel Bennathan QC, defending, said: “It is baffling that the CPS took two years to decide to prosecute him, then seven months later they have suddenly realised there is not enough evidence to do so.”