A FORMER soldier who claims to have helped gun down ISIS terrorists in Syria was set to return home today.
Joe Robinson, from Accrington, said he aimed his rifle at terrorists as they tried to blow him up during a five-month stint in the war-torn country fighting with Kurdish militia.
MORE TOP STORIES:
But the 22-year-old said he expected to be met off his Easyjet flight by police at Manchester Airport after breaching the terms of a suspended jail sentence.
Robinson travelled to Syria after a warrant was issued for the arrest in July after he failed to appear in court.
The ex-soldier, of Belfield Road, had previously admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm for which he received 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, with 240 hours’ unpaid work in September 2014.
He had attacked a teenager in Great Harwood, leaving him with a smashed jaw in two places. He was caught by police after he admitted the offence on Facebook.
Speaking about his time in Syria, he said: “We had rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, we all had Kalashnikov rifles, and a ton of grenades.
“We fired at them, we saw them drop, that’s all I can tell you.
“It’s war - you don’t hang around to check.”
Speaking about breaching his sentence, he said: “I wasn’t really thinking of the consequences before I left. I couldn’t sit around anymore, I had to go. I’m ready to come back and face the consequences.”
Robinson, who joined the Army when he was 18 and toured Afghanistan with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment in 2012, said he spent time at a safe-house and in the mountains close to the Syrian border before sneaking across on foot under the cover of darkness.
He said he joined up with 16 others, including four westerners who were British, Canadian, and American, to fight with the YPG, a Kurdish militia tackling ISIS.
They travelled to Kobani, where the group witnessed the brutal aftermath of fierce bombing, before moving on to nearby Cerin, the scene of heavy fighting, and taking up position on the roof of an abandoned school.
Robinson said: “ISIS had turned it into a prison, ripping off the doors and putting bars on.
“Two days before we got there, there had been a massive assault.
“There were bloodstains across the schoolyard from where a soldier had petrol poured over him and was set on fire.
“Something like 13 YPG soldiers died and all the ISIS members were killed.”
Robinson said the school, in a key strategic location, was attacked by numerous suicide bombers he helped to gun down from his rooftop position.
But he insisted he did the right thing, branded ISIS ‘evil’.
He called on the British government to do more to tackle the terrorist organisation.
He said: “Everyone knows what’s happening, everyone sees the execution videos and all the propaganda, and yet nobody is doing anything about it.
“The Kurdish people have been fighting hard for the past five years. Their families have been wiped out, they have been sold as sex slaves, they have been slaughtered in the streets, and nobody is doing anything about it.”
Speaking from Holland, prior to his flight home, Robinson said he wanted to return to Britain ‘for a break’ because he misses his family.
He added: “The police said somebody will be there to pick me up off the plane or at the airport.”
Yesterday Greater Manchester Police said it could not comment on the case
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article