A British-born member of the so-called Islamic State Beatles nicknamed Jihadi George was part of a “brutal hostage taking scheme” where captors “seemed to enjoy” beating detainees, a court in the US has heard.

Prosecutors say El Shafee Elsheikh and two other Britons were “utterly terrifying” and abuse carried out was “unrelenting and unpredictable”.

Elsheikh has gone on trial in the US on charges of hostage-taking and conspiring to murder journalists and aid workers in Syria.

He was accused of being a member of a terror cell which operated in Iraq and Syria, and whose members were nicknamed “the Beatles” for their British accents.

Read more: Who are the Islamic State fighters nicknamed ‘The Beatles’?

The cell garnered international attention after releasing videos of the murders of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.

Elsheikh was known by his captives not only for his British accent but for his unusual penchant for brutality even within a terrorist group known for its cruelty, the prosecution says.

IS Beatle trial: Daughter of murdered aid worker David Haines will face his alleged kidnapper at trial in US

Ericsson shares tumble as CEO says company may have given money to Islamic State

Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blows himself and his family up during US raid in Syria

He is accused of conspiracy to commit murder and lethal hostage-taking. He denies the charges.

Prosecutor John Gibbs told the court that Elsheikh “played a central role in a brutal hostage taking scheme”.

He continued: “In a prison called the desert 26 western hostages were held. You will hear from some of them.

“All said the three British men who held them were utterly terrifying. The abuse was unrelenting and unpredictable.

“They seemed to enjoy beating the hostages.”

The prosecutor told jurors about how captors ensured one man was beaten 25 times on his 25th birthday.

He added: “They imposed dead legs and put them in stress positions and threatened them with murder.”

Defence lawyer says “Beatles” had similar accents and Elsheikh cannot be identified as a member

The 33-year-old, who was as captured in January 2018, appeared in court wearing a pale blue shirt and dark rimmed glasses, with a bushy beard visible beneath a black face mask

Defence lawyer, Edward MacMahon, told jurors that he would not minimise the violence hostages endured but rather cast doubt on Elsheikh’s legal responsibility for those acts.

MacMahon said during his remarks that the “Beatles” all shared similar British accents and characteristics, and discrepancies in the testimony of released hostages means Elsheikh cannot be conclusively identified as a member of the terrorist cell.

One member of the group, Alexanda Kotey, who pleaded guilty to the murders of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig last year, will be sentenced next month.

Mohammed Emwazi, who was nicknamed Jihadi John, was killed in a drone strike in Syria at the end of 2015.

Final group member Aine Lesley Davis was convicted of terrorism charges in Turkey in 2017.

Related posts:

Kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls have been released and are ‘safe’ Global CO2 emissions bounce back to pre-COVID levels, study finds ‘Quasi-ineffective’: What EU leaders said about Oxford jab – and the data forcing a rethink Russian sanctions necessary but will hardly force Vladimir Putin to change tack Abductors ‘threatened to shoot us’: Released Nigerian schoolgirls relive their mass kidnap terror Sliding towards ‘catastrophe’: Iconic British species threatened by climate change says WWF Nearly 500 deaths could be linked to US-Canadian heatwave ‘Girls not mothers’: Protests erupt and church criticised for interfering with 11-year-old’s abortion Man, 55, bleeds to death after being gored at Spanish bull running festival ‘Defend, repulse and bury the terrorist’ – Ethiopia PM calls on public after two groups seize control of towns Ukraine evacuates civilians from more bombarded regions – as number of people fleeing hits 2m ‘These last few days have been a living hell’: Fleeing the bombs, the shelling and the bloodshed