READ How Jihadi John Subject Hostages To Mock Execution - Freed Journalist

A freed journalist held hostage by Islamic State has told of the moment he was subjected to a mock execution by British terrorist Jihadi John.

Javier Espinosa, a Spanish journalist, had been held by the radical IS since December 2013 and taken to the extremists' stronghold near Aleppo, northern Syria, where he came into contact with British-born jihadists nicknamed the Beatles.

Writing in the Sunday Times, he described how Jihadi John, who was recently unmasked as 26-year-old Londoner Mohammed Emwazi, had been a lead figure in the group, also known as Isis, which took daily pleasure in telling them how they were going to behead them.He said: "The Beatles - that was our nickname for the three British militants guarding us - loved this sort of theatre. They had me sat on the floor, barefoot, with a shaven head, a thick beard and dressed in the 'orange' uniform' that had made Guantanamo, the American prison, famous.

"Jihadi John wanted maximum drama. He had brought along an antique sword of the kind Muslim armies used in the Middle Ages. It was a blade of almost a metre in length with a silver handle.

"After finishing with the sword he holstered his pistol, a Glock. He placed it against my head and pulled the trigger three times. Click. Click. Click. It's called a mock execution. But not even this terrifying intimidation seemed to satisfy them."