Robert Verkaik

The only journalist to interview ‘Jihadi John’ uncovers how Mohammed Emwazi went from London teenager to world’s most wanted terrorist. It was a defining moment, the first time ‘Jihadi John’ appeared.

Suddenly ISIS had a face and the whole world knew the extent of their savagery. Weeks later, when his identity was revealed, Robert Verkaik was shocked to realise that this was a man he’d interviewed.

Back in 2010, Mohammed Emwazi was a 21 year-old IT graduate who claimed the security services were ruining his life. They had repeatedly approached him, his family and his fiancée. Had they been tracking an already dangerous extremist or did they push him over the edge?

In the aftermath of the US air strike that killed Emwazi in November 2015, Verkaik’s investigation led him to troubling questions: What led Emwazi to come to him for help in the first place? And why do hundreds of Britons want to join Islamic State?

Robert Verkaik is a freelance security editor for the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail and the Independent.