Mike Haynes, whose brother David Haynes was arrested by militants in Syria in March 2013, welcomed the sentencing of El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, in a US court, saying he “had secured us a closure.” The murder of David Haynes in 2014 from his cell, nicknamed after their British accents, was used by them for propaganda. Elsheikh, from London, and cell member Alexanda Kotey will be sentenced later this month. The cell – also said to consist of Mohammed Emwazi, the leader known as “Jihadi John” who was killed in a drone strike in Raqqu, Syria, in 2015, and Aine Davis, who was convicted by a Turkish court of being a member of a terrorist group. was blamed for the brutal killings of several Western and Japanese prisoners of war, including the British Alan Henning and Haynes. The two British victims did not take part in the indictment against Elsheikh and Kotey, who had already admitted his role in the atrocities because the court focused only on US victims. Elsheikh was convicted of eight counts involving four U.S. hostages: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller, following a trial in a U.S. district court in Alexandria, Virginia. The two are believed to still face trial in the UK for the deaths of British nationals. Mike Haynes, who heads the educational charity Global Acts of Unity in honor of his 44-year-old brother, said in a statement: “While nothing can really make up for the hole left in David’s murder in our hearts, our verdict provides closure and ensures that all three surviving members of the gang involved in my brother’s murder have now been brought to justice. “ He added: “This unanimous crisis is a triumph for society against diseases such as terrorism and helps us to differentiate ourselves from the hatreds, divisive ideologies that fuel these individuals. It must also act as a warning to anyone else who is being seduced by the false glamor of extremism. “ Speaking after the sentencing, David Haines’s daughter Bethany Haines told BBC One: “It was much more emotional than I expected. I expected to be happy, excited, but it is the realization that he is guilty, what he did to all the families, to all the hostages. “I probably haven’t slept all night since my father was killed in 2014, so I hope to sleep through the night tonight.”
