‘I forgive you’, says brother of IS victim

A DUNDEE man faced his aid worker brother’s terrorist killers in a US court and told them: “I forgive you.”

Mike Haines read out the victim impact statement at Alexandria District Court, Virginia, as Alexanda Amon Kotey, 38, was given eight life sentences.

Mike’s 44-year-old brother David Haines, of Perth, was among hostages beheaded in Syria in 2014 by the so-called Islamic State terror cell known as The Beatles.

Speaking to Kotey, Mike said: “You have inflicted more pain than I can ever put into words... our lives will never be the same again.

“For too long now, you and your cohort have held power over me and my family.

“I am no longer willing to let that happen. Today I can say to you, you no longer have power over me and mine. I forgive you.”

Kotey, 38, originally from Paddington, London, showed no emotion as judge Thomas Selby Ellis delivered his verdict.

Kotey’s co-defendant, El Shafee Elsheikh, was also present for the statements at the court hearing ahead of his sentencing in

August after being convicted of his role in the murder plot.

Outside court Mike, an RAF veteran and former mental health nurse, added: “The opportunity to stand in front of them and reject their hatred, the acts of hatred that took my brother’s life and the other hostages ... it was the closing of a door. “I know that part of my life is over.

“I’ve still had times when I’ve felt hate, we all feel hate but today I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

“They have faced justice, they are now going to face the penalties for their crimes and that is important.”

Among those reading statements in court were David’s wife Dragana, and daughters Athea and Bethany.

Dragana told both Kotey and Elsheikh that she hoped they lived “for 200 years” with their crimes.

“For all I care you can live long and suffer,” she said.

Athea, 11, who was just four years old when she lost her father, said his death had “affected my life in so many ways”.

“Sometimes I get sad when I see my friends laughing and playing with their fathers,” she told the court.

“It’s not easy to be the girl in school whose dad was killed by terrorists.”

David’s eldest daughter Bethany described Kotey and Elsheikh as “monsters”.

Speaking about her father’s death, she said: “He has not been laid to rest, he has been dumped like a bag of rubbish.”

“I wonder why monsters like these men are on this earth while my dad isn’t ... the anger bubbles inside me like a volcano and eventually it erupts.

“Neither of these men have expressed one ounce of remorse.”

As part of his plea bargain, Kotey is expected to spend 15 years in jail in the US and then may be sent to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence, where he may face further charges relating to the killings of Mr Henning and Mr Haines.

Kotey, an Islamic convert, was one of four so-called Islamic State militants nicknamed The Beatles by their captives due to their British accents, who carried out wanton acts of brutality in the mid 2010s.

The terror cell also comprised ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, who was killed in a drone strike in 2015, and Aine Davis, who was jailed in Turkey in 2017.