Daughter of British aid worker beheaded by the ISIS Beatles terror cell pays tribute to generous father ten years after his murder as his body remains unfound
The daughter of a British aid worker David Haines who was beheaded by Islamic State terrorists has paid tribute to a caring man who loved life at a memorial service to mark 10 years since his death.
The daughter of a British aid worker David Haines who was beheaded by Islamic State terrorists has paid tribute to a caring man who loved life at a memorial service to mark 10 years since his death.
Bethany Haines has pledged she will never stop trying to return David to Scotland and said her father would not want to be remembered as the man in the orange jumpsuit but as someone who loved his family.
Friends and family gathered in Perth in Scotland for the service, which Ms Haines organised to celebrate the life of her father and to remember all other hostages.
Mr Haines, from Perth, was captured by militants in Syria in March 2013 while delivering aid to the war-torn country.
The father-of-two was beheaded in 2014 after being held by a terrorist cell dubbed The Beatles because of their English accents.
Footage of Mr Haines murder was posted online and his remains have never been discovered.
Bethany Haines, the daughter of David Haines, who was killed by Islamic State militants (pictured in 2022)
Bethany Haines (pictured as a child) with her father David - Bethany paid tribute to her father at a memorial service to mark 10 years since his death
Friends and family gathered in Perth in Scotland for the service, which Ms Haines organised to celebrate the life of her father and to remember all other hostages - Bethany pictured with her father David
Speaking at the service on Sunday Ms Haines said: Its hard to believe it is 10 years since my world was shattered and I had to accept that I was never going to see my dad again.
It has been a long and hard 10 years with many ups and downs. The pain has never gone away and probably never will but I learned to cope with it and channel my energies into positive things.
Ms Haines said she was inspired by a brother and sister she met on a trip to Syria in 2019 who had witnessed the massacre of several members of their family in their home but had created something positive by turning their living room into a library and community hub.
She said: This inspired me to keep living my life to the best and enjoying myself, thats exactly what my dad would want me to do.
He would not want to be remembered as the man in the orange jumpsuit, he would want to be remembered as the man who loved his family, who was generous, who wanted to help in any way he could and who loved life.
David Haines, from Perth, was captured by militants in Syria in March 2013 while delivering aid to the war-torn country - he is pictured here at his parents home in Ayr, Scotland, in 2012
Haines was among a number of Westerners in the Middle East to be kidnapped by ISIS during the terror groups peak in the early 2010s
Speaking at the service on Sunday Ms Haines said: Its hard to believe it is 10 years since my world was shattered and I had to accept that I was never going to see my dad again (Pictured: Bethany and David)
Bethany (pictured in 2022) described her father as strong, kind and caring and said he would have loved becoming a grandfather and spending time with her son
She described her father as strong, kind and caring and said he would have loved becoming a grandfather and spending time with her son.
Ms Haines also stressed that her fathers death was not about religion but was due to bad men doing bad things.
The service also paid tribute to six other hostages who suffered similar fates to Mr Haines: aid workers Alan Henning, Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig and journalists James Foley, Steven Sotloff and John Cantlie.
A slide show featuring photographs of them and Mr Haines was played during the service at Perth Congregational Church.
Minister Gordon Campbell, who led the service, said: We are here to remember David and all the other hostages and its important that we do so.
He referred to testimonies from other former hostages who spent time in captivity with Mr Haines and spoke highly of him.
David was beheaded in 2014 after being held by a terrorist cell dubbed The Beatles because of their English accents
El Shafee el-Sheikh and Alexanda Kotey (left and right), two of the four Beatles who left the UK to join ISIS
Mr Campbell said: In the most difficult of circumstances David was supporting others, mediating in disputes, keeping spirits up and being strong for others.
Two British nationals, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, are serving life in US jails for their involvement in the plot to kill hostages.
A third man, Mohammed Emwazi, dubbed Jihadi John, who was believed to have featured in shocking videos of IS beheadings of a number of captives, was killed in a drone strike in 2015.
Ms Haines thanked those who have supported her over the past decade, including the families of other hostages, the US government and the charity Hostage International.
She hopes the service will help raise money for Hostage International and donations can be made through JustGiving.
Who are the ISIS Beatles? The group included ringleader Jihadi John who shared beheading videos
Mohammed Emwazi - Jihadi John
Jihadi John
Mohammed Emwazi was one of the most prominent members of the so-called ISIS Beatles and was regularly seen carrying out executions in their horrific beheading videos.
He took part in the barbaric beheading of British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and US humanitarian worker Peter Kassig.
The terrorist, who was born in Kuwait and grew up in Queens Park, West London, was charged with 27 counts of murder and five counts of hostage taking in November 2014.
It is believed he was killed in a Hellfire missile drone strike in Syria in 2015.
Aine Lesley Davis - Paul
Jihadi Paul
Born Aine Leslie Junior Davis in 1984 to Fay Rodriquez, Paul is believed to have spent the early years of his childhood in Hammersmith, London, where his mother lived.
He was one of 13 children his father had by four different women.
The former tube driver, who has drug-dealing and firearms convictions to his name, converted to Islam while serving time in prison.
In 2014 his wife, Amal el-Wahabi, was convicted of funding terrorism after she persuaded a friend to try and smuggle £16,000 ($21,000) in cash in her underwear to him.
Davis was captured by Turkish security officials in 2015 and was later found guilty of being a senior member of a terrorist organization and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
In August 2022, Davis was deported from Turkey to the United Kingdom, and a day later - on August 11 - Britains Crown Prosecution Service authorised charges against Aine Davis for terrorism offences in 2014.
He is now serving an eight year prison term after admitting charges of funding terrorism and possessing a firearm for terrorism purposes.
Alexanda Kotey - George
Alexanda Kotey
Kotey, 38, was born to a Ghanaian father and a Greek Cypriot mother and grew up in Shepherds Bush, West London.
Before his radicalisation, he is thought to have worked as a drug dealer before converting to Islam in his early 20s.
In 2012, he left for Syria where the US claims he was involved in beheadings and known for administering exceptionally cruel torture methods, including electronic shocks.
He was also accused of acting as an ISIS recruiter who convinced a number of other British extremists to join the terror group.
Kotey was captured in Syria while trying to escape to Turkey in 2018 and was held in a US military center in Iraq.
The British Government wanted him tried in the US, where officials believe there is a more realistic chance of prosecution than in the UK.
He was extradited last year and was charged with a number of terror offences. He pleaded guilty in September 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison, 15 years of which would be spent in the United States and then he would be transferred to the United Kingdom.
El Shafee Elsheikh - Ringo
El Shafee Elsheikh
Born in Sudan, Elsheikh, 33, grew up in West London and is the final member of the four British terrorists who fled to join ISIS.
He has been linked to the killings of a number of hostages after heading to Syria to join the extremist group.
He was captured along with Kotey when they tried to flee to Turkey in 2018 and has since been transported to the US where he now faces charges relating to terrorism and beheading Western hostages.
He initially pleaded not guilty to all charges of kidnap, conspiracy to murder and providing material to support terrorism, but he refused to give evidence. He was found guilty following a trial in April 2022.
He eventually pleaded guilty to all counts and was sentenced to life in prison.
