A BRITISH terror suspect whose mother pleaded for him to be jailed has died fighting for al-Shabaab in Kenya.
Thomas Evans, 25, who converted to Islam six years ago, was among 15 militants killed when the group attacked a military base in Lamu on Sunday, say Kenyan sources.
Defence forces spokesman Colonel David Obonyo said: “All available data, including photographs, points to it being Thomas Evans.
“There is an investigation going on with forensics and DNA to confirm his identity.”
Kenyan officials posted a photograph on Twitter of what is claimed to be Evans’ body. His brother Michael said he had seen a picture and added: “There was no doubt it was him. We remember him as my brother, but to everyone else he’s just a terrorist.”
Evans, who changed his name to Abdul Hakin, was thought to have travelled four years ago to join al-Shabaab.
His mother Sally Evans, 57, from Wooburn Green, Bucks, said he was a “normal teenage lad” who was “interested in going to the pub on a Saturday night” before turning to Islam.
After leaving school at 16, he worked as an electrician but he began to change when he split with a long-term girlfriend and became depressed.
His father, Anthony Evans, 57, is a company director who lives in Lincoln. Giving evidence to the Commons home affairs select committee in February, Mrs Evans said she was initially pleased when her son turned to Islam as he had previously gone off the rails, admitting: “He had done one or two things I wasn’t proud of, so I was quite happy for him to follow Islam if that was what he wanted.”
But he became increasingly fundamental when he started attending a small prayer centre and began to “drift down a path that was not right”.
He refused to use the same pots and pans as his mother and Michael, telling them: “I want you to convert to Islam otherwise you’ll burn in hell.”
At 21, he bought a one-way ticket to Kenya. “I couldn’t stop him,” said Mrs Evans.
When he left the UK, she supplied police with as much information as possible, being fuelled by the fear he wanted to become a suicide bomber.
She said she would rather have him alive behind bars than dead abroad because of a “warped ideology”.
In January 2012, he called and said he had linked up with the terror group. His mother said: “He told us he was in Somalia and had joined al-Shabaab and not to worry.”
She asked if he was thinking of becoming a suicide bomber. He reportedly replied: “If asked, I would.”
The Foreign Office last night said: “We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Kenya. We are not able to confirm them.”
Al-Shabaab, banned in the UK, is a Somalia-based group with links to al-Qaeda that has waged a violent campaign for years against its governments.
It targets neighbours Kenya, claiming attacks are in retaliation for their participation in an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.
Fifty Britons are believed to have joined al-Shabaab.