Briton murdered by Isis did not want ransom paid

A British humanitarian worker murdered by Islamic State terrorists did not want the government to pay a ransom for his release – even if the other likely option was death, his brother has said. David Haines was killed in September last year, 18 months after he was captured while on his maiden mission taking aid to Syrians caught up in the conflict.

His family were unable to speak publicly about the kidnap for fear he would be killed. The former RAF engineer’s name was eventually made public when he appeared in the background of a video showing the execution of Steven Sotloff, an American journalist also seized by terrorists.

Haines’s brother, Mike, said “the writing was on the wall” when David, from Perth, was shown in that video. He has refused to watch the brutal footage, although he remains “haunted” by still images taken from it.

In an interview with the Press Association marking World Humanitarian Day on Wednesday, and the one-year anniversary of the death of American journalist James Foley at the hands of Syrian terrorists, Mike Haines recalled his brother’s unwavering support for the government policy of not negotiating with terrorists.

He also warned humanitarians against following in his brother’s footsteps by heading to Syria.

He said: “David had always said that even if the government was OK with paying ransoms, if a single pound was paid for his release he would have nothing to do with it.

“We looked at every possible option, there was nothing we discounted. But putting money into the hands of terrorists only breeds more. It would make more British humanitarian workers targets.

“David would have felt very, very torn – being able to be free to see his daughters and wife again. But he would have been very unhappy that a ransom had been paid.”

The family’s hopes of seeing him alive sank when footage surfaced of Sotloff’s execution.

Mike Haines, four years older than his brother, said: “My family’s mantra had always been to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

“We knew there was not a good chance of David coming home. We knew the writing was on the wall.”

Media coverage, and the Briton’s identity being revealed, only added to the family’s grief.

Mike Haines said: “Everywhere you went the images of David’s face … those images in the deep, dark night when I can’t sleep, they haunt me.

“But that wasn’t ‘David’. It was very difficult, in fact impossible, to avoid seeing those images. I have not seen the video and won’t any time soon.”

He broke down as he recalled the Foreign Office phone call, some two weeks later, confirming the family’s worst fears.

“My gut reaction was that I wanted to run away,” he said. “I didn’t want to have to tell my family that their son, uncle, dad, husband had passed away.”

Mike, also a former RAF engineer, now visits schools, religious organisations and community groups in an attempt to dissuade young people from online indoctrination by terrorists.

He works for the Fightback Starts Here campaign which was launched this summer with the backing of more than 100 charities, inter-faith organisations and community leaders.

He said: “It is not an Islamic question, it is multi-faith and multicultural.