Aidan James, 28, was found guilty of terrorism offences (Picture: PA)

A British Army reject who travelled to the Middle East to fight against the Islamic State has been found guilty of terrorism offences.

Aidan James, 28, had no prior military knowledge when he ventured abroad, having previously been turned away by the Army, RAF, Navy, and Territorial Army because of his mental health.

He returned in February last year, and has now become the first Brit to be put on trial for going to abroad to oppose IS.

The father-of-one was found guilty of training in weapons with the banned Marxist political organisation, the PKK, in Iraq.


However, he was also cleared of a second charge, which accused him of attending terror training camp with Kurdish YPG units, or ‘People’s Protection Units’, in Syria.

He went to Iraq in August 2017

He has since been remanded into custody to await sentencing on November 7.



The court heard how in 2017, James had been in contact with anti-terror programme Prevent, allegedly stated he wanted to help the ‘PKK YPG’ in their battle against Isis.

He was then arrested by police after broadcasting his intentions on Facebook – but told officers he was going to Syria to help with ‘humanitarian aid’.

Despite having his passport confiscated, James said: ‘Nothing will stop me going, even if you take my passport off me I will still find a way to go.

‘I cannot sit at home and watch people getting f**king butchered because it’s another country.’

James kept a diary while he was in the Middle East (Picture: PA)

He has since returned to Liverpool (Picture: Facebook)

James’ bail was later cancelled and his passport returned, and he set off for Iraq in August 2017.

There, he kept a diary and wrote that he was sitting on a roof with a 50 calibre machine gun, describing it like something out of ‘Mad Max’.

In December, he said the situation with Turkey was worsening, writing: ‘Daesh is the biggest threat the world has seen since Hitler so anything I can do in these operations is good.’

He stayed in contact with a police negotiator during his time overseas, before eventually making the decision to return home to Liverpool.

As he left, he wrote in his diary that he had had an ‘amazing time’, noting that he had ‘lost good friends, met great ones, fought on front line numerous times, killed Daesh soldiers, been shot at many times by ISIS and our own guys’.

He wrote that he had had an ‘amazing time’ (Picture: Mercury Press & Media)

He also said he had ‘drove humvys (sic), sat on roof as drove through desert, (been) attacked by suicide vehicles many times, mortar fire, sniper RPG, drones’ and had even ‘chilled with a donkey.’

James returned to Liverpool John Lennon airport on February 14 last year on flights via Baghdad, Amman and Amsterdam.

He declined to give evidence but denied training with PKK terrorists in Mahkmour, Iraq on or before October 1 2017 and attending another place for training in Syria with YPG units on or before November 4 2017.

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