Briton who died in Syria ‘probably killed by IS’

A BRITISH man who travelled to Syria to join the fight against Islamic State died from blast injuries, an inquest has heard.

Luke Rutter, 22, from Wirral, Merseyside, died in the city of Raqqa on July 5 after joining the Kurdistan People’s Protection Units (YPG).

An inquest into his death, held at the Gerard Majella Courthouse in Liverpool on Monday, heard he had travelled to the country without the knowledge of the UK authorities and was “more likely than not” to have been killed by IS, also known as Daesh.

The brief hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes, was attended by Mr Rutter’s mother and father along with other relatives.

Coroner’s officer Pamela Robbins said a post-mortem examination showed the cause of his death was blast injuries.

In a video message released after his death, Mr Rutter had apologised for lying to his loved ones about going to fight.

He said: “I lied to people I care about to come here. I said that I was going somewhere else, I didn’t. “I apologise massively for that. “Apart from that I don’t regret my decision and I hope that you respect it.”

Coroner Andre Rebello recorded a narrative conclusion 22-year-old’s death.

He said: “On July 5 2017 Luke Rutter died from blast injuries either from an improvised explosive device or a rocket exploding nearby. He was hit with projectiles and shrapnel with immediate fatal consequences.

“He travelled to Syria unbeknown to UK authorities and volunteered to fight with the YPG, a Kurdish people’s protection unit, against Daesh, into the