Abu Rumaysah police letter raises questions about his escape

The letter also raises questions about when the Metropolitan Police knew about the disappearance of the man suspected of appearing in the latest Islamic State propaganda video, which features the murders of five men.

It was sent to him by counter terrorism command, dated 7 November 2014 – six weeks after his escape.

It lists the conditions for his bail and states he should have surrendered all travel documents at a police station by the beginning of the previous month.

It notes this condition has not been complied with and goes on to say that officers have made repeated visits to the address but reported no reply at the door when they knocked. The letter asks him to contact the police “as a matter of urgency”.

It says he is accused of being a member of a proscribed organisation, supporting a proscribed organisation, and “encouraging terrorism”.

The letter was brandished by shadow home secretary Andy Burnham in the Commons as he questioned Home Secretary Theresa May.

He said: “He (Abu Rumaysah) was well known to the authorities, having been arrested six times on terror-related offences before being placed on police bail in 2014 and requested to surrender his passport. It was when he failed to comply with those bail conditions that it emerged he had absconded.

“I have here the letter sent to Dhar setting out his bail conditions after he was bailed on the 26th of September 2014. It reminds him that he was due to surrender his travel documents by the 3rd of October 2014, but this letter was sent over a month later on the 7th of November. It is clear he had left the country long before this letter was sent.”

Abu Rumaysah, from east London, left Britain with his family the day after being freed on bail, travelling to Paris and then Syria.

Taunted

He later posted a picture of himself on social media, holding his baby son in one hand and an AK-47 assault rifle in the other.

The extremist also taunted authorities for allowing him to slip through the net, writing on Twitter: “What a shoddy security system Britain must have to allow me to breeze through Europe to (IS).”

Sir Peter Fahy, a former counter-terrorism lead for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said it was “incredibly difficult” to monitor an individual 24 hours a day. He told the BBC: “At the moment, clearly people are able to leave the country without the same level of controls there is when people come into the country.”

Exit checks

David Cameron’s spokeswoman declined to discuss the specific case, but said that since 2014 measures had been taken to strengthen border controls, including the introduction of exit checks and powers for temporary seizure of passports.

Downing Street also confirmed that security services have completed an “initial assessment” of the identity of the masked jihadi with a British accent who appears on the 10-minute IS film.

Born a Hindu called Siddhartha Dhar, Rumaysah ran a business renting out bouncy castles in London before converting to Islam.