Brett, a terrorist known as “Jihadi Jack”, has begged to be returned to a Canadian prison instead of being sent to a Syrian prison camp.
In his first television interview since 2019, Oxford-born Jack Letts, 29, said he would have “no problem” being sent to a prison in Canada.
9
9
9
The alleged ISIS fighter has been detained in Syria for seven and a half years, and a television crew found him in New Raqqa prison.
Speaking to CTV News' W5, Letts demanded that he be transferred to Canada and denied being a member of ISIS.
“At least let me rot in a prison in Canada,” he said.
“Were you a member of ISIS? No. I said many things a long time ago because I was afraid.
“I can't say everything because I'm still in prison.”
He added: “I spoke to people who gave me the impression that ISIS was not what people said it was…and once I got there, I realized they were not what I thought they were.”
“Without exaggeration, more than 20 of my close friends were killed by ISIS.”
His mother, Sally Lynn, said his condition had clearly deteriorated.
Speaking to Middle East Eye, she said: “I was shocked by Jack's condition, how clearly sad and shocked he was.”
“I am so angry at the Canadian and British governments that they think it is acceptable to completely destroy him as a human being.
“Jack will die if they don't bring him home. They know it, and yet they do nothing.”
The dual British and Canadian national fled his Oxfordshire home in 2014 to fight for ISIS after declaring himself an “enemy of Britain”.
Letts was 18 when he fled to Syria and married an Iraqi woman.
Kurdish-led forces detained him in 2017 and begged to be returned to Oxford, saying he posed no threat.
The UK revoked his passport in 2019 but he holds Canadian citizenship through his father.
At the time, the convert said it was “no big deal” that he was no longer a British citizen.
He said: “I'm not surprised, I was expecting something like this honestly.
“I have been here for two and a half years and the British government has not helped me at all.
“Even if they don't strip me of my citizenship, it's as if I'm not a British citizen anyway.
“These things don't make a lot of sense to me, to be honest,” he added.
“I don't think obtaining British citizenship is a big problem.”
9
9
9
Parental anger
His father John Letts, 58, insisted the jihadist's interviews were conducted “under duress”, but ITV insists he was only too happy to speak on camera while ignoring Britain.
His father also objected to Sajid Javid's decision to strip Letts of his citizenship, and asked him to explain the reasons for “secretly” cutting off government ties with his son.
The organic farmer, a Canadian, told Channel 4: “It seems that justice cannot be done here.
“I believed we had the right to be innocent until proven guilty, the right to a trial, the right to freedom of expression.
“I think Sajid is probably being a bit cowardly, in denial and naive, and obviously this is his last act (as Home Secretary) and he can move on without even having to justify it.
The jihadist's British mother, Sally Lynn, accused Javid of leaving her son suspended in a “legal black hole.”
“It was a real shock that your government could do this to you without any form of redress, discussion or means of actually contacting Jack, given that he is being held incommunicado and has no access to a lawyer,” the 57-year-old said.
“Jack and other people are now in a legal black hole.
“I think Jack wants to go back to whatever country takes him to him.”
Convicted parents
John and his wife Sally transferred £223 to their son who converted to Islam, even though they had every reason to believe he had joined the brutal terror group in Syria.
Jack Letts had told the couple that he wanted to behead British soldiers in an ISIS terrorist attack, but they denied knowing that he had links to extremists.
They were today found guilty at the Old Bailey of financing terrorism in September 2015 but not guilty of the same charge in December 2015 when they tried to send a further £1,500.
Jurors were discharged after they were unable to decide on a third charge relating to an attempt to send £500 in January 2016.
The pair were spared a maximum 14-year prison sentence, instead receiving a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Speaking after the case, the couple said in an emotional statement: “We tried to do the right thing. We cooperated fully with the police and repeatedly asked them for help.”
“They promised us they would help us, but instead of helping us, they used the information we provided to prosecute us.”
Canada ignored her
Sally Lynn said she “screamed” at her terrorist son when she learned he had traveled to Syria and said: “How can you be so stupid? You will be killed. Your head will be cut off.”
John Letts says he begged his son to come home, telling him: “A father should not live to see his son buried.”
He accused him of being a “pawn… helping to spread hatred, pain, anger, suffering and violence.”
Letts gained citizenship through his Canadian father John, but was born in the UK and grew up in rural Oxfordshire with his organic farmer father and British mother Sally.
In 2023, it was revealed that Letts was among four men whose families received court support to return to the country.
He was expected to be returned to Canada, after the country had already agreed to take back six women and 13 children, who were also being held in camps in Syria.
At the time of publishing the news, his mother Sally, who now lives in Canada, said she was “very happy.”
“We've been fighting to get Jack back for a long time,” she said.
9
9
9
