El Shafee Elsheikh: Outrage as ISIS 'Beatle' guilty of horrific beheadings manages to evade supermax prison
FLORENCE, COLORADO: There’s been a growing discontent among many after ISIS 'Beatle’ El Shafee Elsheikh was given a more "soft verdict," as called by many prison experts. The British man who was involved in the barbaric beheading of four journalists and aides will reportedly be serving his time in a less restrictive prison instead of solitary confinement at ADX Florence in Colorado.
David Spencer, a research director at the Centre for Crime Prevention, questioned the fairness of the decision. “If it's special treatment for him and it's on the grounds of his mental health it looks soft in light of what he's done and the impact of his horrific actions on his victims and their loved ones,” he said to MailOnline.
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He also brought light to the fact that other British terrorists are already imprisoned at a supermax, including hate monger Abu Hamza, “There's a lack of consistency. If this jail is where serious terrorists are sent he should have gone there too.”
Spencer continued, “We urgently need to find out the reasons why this man hasn't been sent there as a convicted terrorist who's slaughtered so many people.”
El Shafee Elsheikh's lawyer reasoned in the court that he had shown "signs of mental and physical deterioration from his present and past detention" and that he should avoid the so-called "concrete box" at the supermax prison, according to The Mirror.
On the possibility of him living the rest of his days among a general prison population, Spencer said, “There's clearly a risk of him being able to radicalise others if he's in the general population. That's an issue that's been well documented in the past at both British and American jails. The decision seems naïve at best.”
A source told the newspaper, "the victims families don't know how he evaded Florence" and that it was a "kick in the teeth." It added that the families "were sure he was to see out his days at ADX, but they have now been told he has been sent to the lesser penitentiary." The US prison insider, added, “He's avoided being kept alongside some of the world's most dangerous men and dying alone.”
Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Green River serial killer, Gary Ridgway, were among the other high-profile criminals held at Florence High.