By SCM Staff Writer I Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025
LONDON – A BRITISH man who jetted off to Syria to join an Al-Qaeda-linked terror group and then brazenly flew back home has been slapped with a nine-year jail sentence.
Isa Giga, 32, previously of Hounslow, west London, was convicted of a Terrorism Act offence after a two-week trial at the Old Bailey.
He was busted by Met Counter Terrorism cops when he landed at Heathrow Airport on May 23, 2024, after catching a flight back from Turkey.
The court heard Giga flew from Heathrow back in September 2015, travelling via Istanbul and Adana before crossing the border into Syria.
He joined the chilling Jaysh Al Fath group, an alliance of Islamist armed factions fighting in the bloody Syrian civil war that included an affiliate of Al-Qaeda.
Met Counter Terrorism officers amassed damning evidence, including flight records, bank transactions, and shocking emails and social media messages proving he went to ‘fight for Jihad’.
In one message to an undercover cop, Giga explained how he “never knew about jihad until 2015” when ISIS took control of parts of Syria.
Crucially, he openly admitted supporting the group and sickeningly declared he “wanted martyrdom very soon in the first row” (on the battlefield).
Giga was finally sentenced on Friday, October 17, receiving nine years behind bars.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, had a stark warning for others who might try a similar stunt.
He said: “Anyone who returns to the UK after fighting for a terrorist group will be thoroughly investigated, no matter how long it has been since they left the country.
“A Terrorism Act conviction will also be followed by strict notification requirements, ensuring we can monitor offenders closely, even after they are released from prison
