Jihadi Beatles face trial in US after appeal is thrown out

BRITAIN yesterday gave the US its evidence on two members of an Islamic State murder cell dubbed the Beatles, clearing the way for the pair to be put on trial.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said she hoped the victims and families of Londoners El Shafee Elsheikh (pictured top) and Alexanda Kotey (below) would finally get justice, years after the pair allegedly beheaded Western hostages.

The transfer of material intended to help the prosecution of the pair – who have been stripped of UK citizenship – came after Elsheikh’s mother lost a legal challenge in the High Court.

Maha Elgizouli’s lawyers had told the court that Mrs Patel’s decision to press on with the transfer breached Britain’s Data Protection Act. But the judges said the Home Secretary was within her rights.

Mrs Patel tweeted: ‘I sincerely hope that justice for the victims and their families will now be served.’

A two- year legal impasse concerning the pair – who are in the custody of US forces in Iraq – was broken last month when US Attorney General Bill Barr said they would be spared execution if convicted after trial in the US. But he warned that unless the British evidence was shared by October 15, Kotey and Elsheikh would be prosecuted in Iraq, where they would probably be hanged.

Mr Barr’s intervention put the onus on Mrs Patel to see if the British system could overcome the court challenge by Elsheikh’s mother and share the evidence – said to be damning wiretaps.

Kotey and Elsheikh’s four-member cell was dubbed ‘ the Beatles’ by their captives because of their British accents.