Mother of ‘Beatles’ suspect loses in court
The mother of a suspected IS terrorist has lost a High Court challenge against home secretary Priti Patel’s decision to share evidence about her son with US authorities.
Maha Elgizouli, whose son El Shafee Elsheikh is in US custody with his co-accused Alexanda Kotey, brought a judicial review earlier this month over Ms Patel’s decision on 24 August to provide material to the American government under a “mutual legal assistance (MLA)” request, ahead of an intended prosecution in the US. Elsheikh and Kotey are accused of belonging to a cell of executioners in Syria – nicknamed The Beatles because of their British accents – responsible for killing a number of Western captives. Ms Elgi
zouli’s lawyers had argued Ms Patel’s decision was unlawful as it was incompatible with the Data Protection Act, and asked the court to order that no material should be provided to the US. But in a ruling yesterday, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Ga rn ham rejected the case, saying it was “not properly arguable”.