A British man who fought with Kurdish militia against Islamic State is to appear in court on Wednesday charged with a terror offence.
James Matthews, 43, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to face a charge of attending a place used for terrorist training, under the Terrorism Act 2006.
In March 2017, a ‘Jim Matthews’ was a signatory of an “open letter from British YPG fighters on London attacks” posted on a Kurdish news website.
James Matthews, left, is greeted by supporters as he arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
In it they urged people not to give in to extremism of any kind following the attacks in Westminster, London Bridge and Manchester.
Last week, a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “James Matthews, a UK national, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on February 14 to be formally charged with attending a place or places in Iraq and Syria where instruction or training was provided for purposes connected to the commission or preparation of terrorism on or before February 15 2016 under Section 8 of the Terrorism Act 2006.”