'Jihadi Jack' interview: Jack Letts says he wants to return to the UK from Syria as he 'misses his mum, pasties and Doctor Who'

Sophie Williams22 February 2019

A British man known as Jihadi Jack has said he wants to return home after being held in a Kurdish prison for two years, but doubts that the UK will bring him back.

Jack Letts said he missed his mother and British life, including pasties and Doctor Who, in a new interview shown today.

The 23-year-old from Oxford is accused of travelling to Syria to fight for Islamic State.

He told ITV News: “If the UK accepted me then I’d go back to the UK, it’s my home. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Jack Letts speaking from his prison in Syria, where he has been held after being charged by the YPG with being a member of Isis
ITV/PA Wire

“I miss people mostly. I miss my mum. I know that sounds a bit toddler-ish.

“Even if I could just see my mum – I would just like a phone call, I don’t know if Britain can do that for me here, but I’d like just a phone call to my mum – it’s been two years.”

Mr Letts also has a Canadian passport thanks to his father's nationality, but admitted: "I don't know if that will still be valid."

Mr Letts' parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, from Chilswell Road, Oxford, are awaiting trial in the UK accused of sending money to their son.

They have denied three charges of funding terrorism.

He converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford.

Mr Letts married an Iraqi woman who has given birth to his son
ITV News

He first travelled to the Middle East in 2014, aged 18, after dropping out of A-level study. He ventured to Syria via Jordan.

Mr Letts married an Iraqi woman who has since given birth to his son.

When asked about the Paris terror attacks in 2015, Mr Letts told reporters: “To be honest at the time – I thought it was a good thing. Not that people who had nothing to do with it got killed.”

He added that he had seen children being “burnt alive” in bombings and has since realised that the Paris attack victims had nothing to do with it.

The 19-year-old claims she wants to return to the UK with her baby.

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