Briton shot himself to avoid IS capture
‘True hero’ was surrounded by terrorists in Syria
A ‘HEROIC’ young Briton fighting Islamic State in Syria killed himself to avoid capture after being surrounded by terrorists, an inquest heard.
Ryan Lock, 20, who had joined up with Kurdish forces, was ‘immobilised’ by a bullet to the thigh as IS fighters closed in.
The chef shot himself last December while with the People’s Defence Units (YPG) in Raqqa to avoid a ‘frightening and painful death’.
His family, who had not heard from him for weeks, only found out about his death when they discovered images of a fighter standing over his body on an Arabic news site.
At an inquest in Portsmouth yesterday, the coroner described Mr Lock, from Chichester, West Sussex, as a ‘true hero’ who, despite being injured, had kept fighting ‘bravely’.
Recording a narrative verdict, David Horsley said: ‘This is the story of a young man who gave up a comfortable life in order to go and fight for what he believes in.
‘He was likely to have fallen into the hands of a cruel and ruthless enemy so instead he took his own life. It can only be viewed as a very brave act. He was a very brave man and his family have lost a very heroic young man.’
Mr Horsley said he would not record a suicide verdict because Mr Lock did not plan to kill himself.
Pathologist Basil Purdue said the chef was killed by an ‘overwhelming’ single shot to the head, while the bullet wound to his thigh was ‘a severe injury which would have immobilised him’. He added: ‘Unless he was carried away, there was no possibility of him getting away.’
Mr Lock, who had no fighting experience, told his parents last August that he was going backpacking in Turkey, the inquest heard, but he made his way to Syria.
His mother, Catherine Lock, a nurse from Havant, Hampshire, said her son had expressed anger over the war in the region, adding: ‘He was saying how sad it all is for the women and children and said, “Someone should do something about it”.’
She panicked when her son told her he was joining the YPG and told him: ‘I’m proud of you but please just come home now.’
Miss Lock kept in contact with him via his mobile phone but he never mentioned being involved in combat. After she lost touch with him in December, Mr Lock’s father, Jon Plater, searched online for information about casualties and found the ‘horrible’ images. He said: ‘It was a picture of Ryan with the gunshot wound on his head and some sort of fighter was standing over him.’
A YPG commander said Mr Lock was a ‘martyr’ who died ‘putting up a brave fight’. But Miss Lock criticised the group, saying: ‘Without them he would not be dead.’
Four Britons are believed to have died fighting Islamic State in Syria.