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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Paul Byrne & Ruth Suter

Brother of murdered Scots aid worker says brutal killing led to parents' deaths

The brother of a Scots aid worker who was brutally murdered by ISIS says the killing also led to their parents' deaths.

Mike Haines, brother of David, says he has forgiven cruel killer Alexanda Kotey for the sickening crime.

Though he says the loss of his 44-year-old brother crushed their parents, Mary and Chris.

London-born Kotey, 38, was sentenced to life in the US last week after beheading the Scot in 2014.

Mike says he has forgiven his brother's killer (PA)

He was a member of a terror cell who became nicknamed the Beatles because of their British accents, The Mirror reports.

They tortured and executed hostages in Syria including David, from Perth. His remains have never been found.

His brother Mike, 55, told ITV ’s Good Morning Britain yesterday his how his mum “faded” after her son’s death.

Mrs Haines, from Ayr, Scotland, died the following year, aged, 81.

Her husband passed away in 2017 aged 80.

Mike said: “When David was murdered my mum slowly gave up on life as she slowly faded away.”

He said his father had been in the first stages of dementia when David was kidnapped and added: “In the 48 hours after I told my parents, my family, that David had gone, his dementia got so much worse. Again, he slowly faded.”

Alexanda Kotey (Reuters)

Kotey admitted eight charges related to kidnapping, torturing and executing hostages from 2012 to 2015.

His fellow Beatle El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, will be sentenced in August.

The pair listened to emotional impact statements from victims’ families in a Virginia court on Friday.

David’s daughter Bethany, 24, told Kotey: “I hope you rot in hell.”

Mike, from Dundee, who now runs educational charity Global Acts of Unity, told Kotey: “For too long now you and your cohort have held power over me and my family.

“I am no longer willing to let that happen. I forgive you.”

He said Kotey’s only reaction was a blink. He added he did not feel the anger and hate he had expected, only “closure”.

Another member of the terror cell, Mohammed Emwazi, 27, “Jihadi John”, died in a drone strike in Syria in 2015.

A fourth member, Aine Davis, 38, was jailed in Turkey in 2017.

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