A FORMER British soldier who was accused of a terror offence after he fought against ISIS is today a free man after the charge was dropped.

James Matthews, 43, joined Kurdish forces to fight Islamic State in Syria and was accused of attending a place used for terrorism training.

3 James Matthews was smiling when he left the Old Bailey today Credit: London News Pictures

Matthews, from Dalston, east London, was cheered by supporters when he appeared at court earlier this year.

He was due to face trial at the Old Bailey in November but his case was thrown out this morning after the charge was dropped.

Tom Little QC, told the court the Crown announced that a conviction was no longer a realistic outcome because of "evidential" grounds.

Mr Justice Edis entered a not guilty verdict after the prosecution offered no evidence.

3 Matthews was accused of travelling to Syria and Iraq for terror training Credit: Channel 4

In March 2017, a Jim Matthews was a signatory of an "open letter from British YPG fighters on London attacks" posted on a Kurdish news website.

In it they urged people not to give in to extremism of any kind following the attacks in Westminster, London Bridge and Manchester.

Matthews appeared in a Channel 4 documentary - The Brits battling ISIS - about his fight against the jihadist group.

3 The YPG have been important allies of the West in helping to defeat ISIS Credit: Alamy

The ex-soldier said he was inspired to join the YPG after seeing a photo of an ISIS fighter holding the head of a woman who had been decapitated.

He said: "What really jolted me was a photo I saw on Facebook of an ISIS fighter holding up the severed head of a woman.

"It seemed like one of the most single evil things I've ever seen and it affected me quite a lot."

It's believed since 2015 dozens of Britons have fought as volunteers with the Kurds on the ground in Syria.

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Oliver Hall, from Portsmouth, died while clearing with others to have died including sniper Jac Holmes, 24, and Mehmet Aksoy, 32, who died in an ISIS attack.

Ryan Lock, 20, shot himself to avoid being taken hostage and Luke Rutter, 22, Dean Evans, 22, and Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, 25, were all killed in operations against ISIS.

Terrorism laws in the UK prohibit engaging in violence for a political or ideological cause and the government has long repeated warnings that fighting with any group could lead to legal action.