Jihadi Jack - Or Maybe Not

The desperation of the tabloid press to find more and more of those Scary Muslims, and especially among those who already live in the UK, knows no bounds. Just a sniff of someone who is a follower of The Prophet going within a hundred miles of the Syrian border is enough to get them into a froth. And when they find a white British Muslim convert, well, reality can just be slung out of the nearest window.

So it was with the case of Jack Letts, who is 20 years old, converted to Islam in his teens, and left the family home in Oxfordshire over a year ago. He has travelled to Syria since then, and posted photos of him there. This has enabled the more creatively minded of the Fourth Estate to add 2 and 2 to obtain a number that may not be 4. As usual, the Sun and Mail are in the creativity vanguard. Subtle it was not.

“Jihadi Jack: First white Brit to join ISIS in Syria is posh farmer's son from Oxford … Football fan Jack Letts, 20, was a 'classroom clown' who liked a drink and sometimes smoked cannabis” told the Sun, adding “THIS is the first white British male known to have joined IS - the son of a leading organic farmer who was on BBC’s Countryfile … Jack Letts, 20, left his Oxford home and fled to Syria two years ago”.

There were, to no surprise at all, minor problems with the Sun’s account: Letts had not “fled” anywhere, and did not go to Syria “two years ago”. Nor, minor point this, was there any firm evidence to connect him to ISIS, or whatever they’re called this week. But that counted for nothing, as the Sun also told that “It is understood he lives in the IS stronghold of Raqqa after marrying an Iraqi”. And they can’t back that one up, either.

Over at the Mail, they were equally sure of their ground: “The 'typical middle class boy' who became Jihadi Jack: With a book editor mother and a father who has been on Countryfile, friends express shock that 'class clown' could become ISIS fighter … The Muslim convert secretly travelled to Syria and is now living in Iraq”.

There’s more: “MailOnline understands 'Jihadi Jack' is now a frontline fighter for the brutal terror group and lives with his Iraqi wife and his son Muhammed after moving to the Iraqi city of Fallujah from Raqqa”. But the Independent has sounded a sceptical note, noting that Letts’ mother had described these reports as “absolutely ridiculous”.

She added “He is not a member of Isis, he is very probably not the first white convert that has gone out there. He does not have a son and is not known as Abu Mohammed … We spoke to him yesterday and he said he had never had a weapon in his life. He went out there for humanitarian purposes to help kids in Syrian refugee camps … It is not as if he is hiding - he tells us what he has for breakfast”. Well, well.

Who to believe, Jack Letts’ mother, who spoke to him only the other day, or the hacks at the Sun and Mail, who haven’t spoken to him at all? One thing is certain: those papers who have accused Letts of joining ISIS should have their claims backed up if they want to retain any credibility. But they don’t care about credibility, and so they may not.