A man accused of being the fourth member of an Islamic State terror cell known as “the Beatles” has been remanded in custody after appearing in court accused of terror offences.
Aine Leslie Davis, 38, from Hammersmith, west London, spoke briefly to confirm his name and date of birth when he appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday.
He was arrested at Luton airport on Wednesday evening after being deported to the UK from Turkey.
He has been charged with possession of a firearm for terror purposes, and two charges relating to funding terrorism, after a friend allegedly tried to take €20,000 (about £17,000) to Syria. The charges relate to alleged offending in 2013 and 2014.
Davis, who wore a grey long-sleeve T-shirt and grey trousers, was remanded in custody by senior district judge Paul Goldspring.
Matt Foot, defending, told the court: “There will be no pleas to the charges, he has only just come into the country, and there will be no bail application.”
Davis was charged with possession of a firearm for terrorist purposes between 28 July 2013 and 16 January 2014.
He was also accused of inviting another to provide money, intending that it should be used for terrorism purposes between 13 January and 16 January 2014.
A third charge accused him of entering into an arrangement, as a result of which money was to be made available to another for the purposes of terrorism.
The charges were brought under sections 15, 17 and 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Prosecutor Kashif Malik told the court: “Following Mr Davis’s conversion to the Islamic faith he adopted the name Hamza.
“Between 2007 and 2012, together with his wife at the time, Amal el-Wahabi, he travelled overseas and spent time in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“It was not until 28 July 2013 that he left the UK on a flight from Luton to Amsterdam. He arrived in Turkey on 5 September 2013 and it is our case that from there, he travelled to Syria.”
The judge told the defendant: “Mr Davis, you will appreciate, if you are convicted the sentence is likely to be years and not months and therefore this is not a case I can deal with in this court.
“I reject jurisdiction and the case is allocated to the crown court. You will appear on 2 September and you will do so in custody.”
