Ex-private schoolboy, 19, who became fourth Portsmouth jihadist to die fighting for ISIS tried to flee Syria but was caught by militants just eight minutes from the border

• Mehdi Hassan, 19, who used alias Abu Dujana, killed fighting for ISIS in Syria
• Former Catholic schoolboy from Portsmouth travelled to country last year
• Part of gang-of-five British jihadists seen on CCTV boarding flight to Turkey
• Family said Hassan expressed his intention to return to UK in recent months
• But claimed he was scared about repercussions and threat of terror charges
• He tried to meet his mother at border but couldn't escape without passport
• He was captured by ISIS and was imprisoned by the jihadists for four days
• ISIS encourages its recruits to burn their passports as a sign of loyalty

A former Portsmouth schoolboy who died while fighting for ISIS tried to escape Syria but was captured only minutes away from meeting his mother across the Turkish border.

The family of Mehdi Hassan, 19, who attended a private Catholic school in Hampshire, confirmed he died in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani after a picture of his body emerged on Twitter.

Hassan, who also used the alias Abu Dujana, had expressed plans to return to Britain over the last few months but had been scared about the repercussions and the threat of prosecution on terror charges, his family said.

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Mehdi Hassan, 19, (pictured) who attended a private Catholic school in Hampshire, travelled to Syria to fight for ISIS with four others from Portsmouth in October last year. He died in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani

Hassan became one of the youngest people to join the group of British jihadists in Syria after travelling to the Middle East in October last year.

But following phone contact with his mother, who he discovered had travelled to Turkey to establish his whereabouts, Hassan attempted to escape from the extremist group he had once been a part of.

His attempt to flee occurred when he was recuperating in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa following treatment for a wound he sustained in battle.

Sensing his opportunity, Hassan attempted to escape without a passport, trying to reach the Turkish border town of Urfa.

He was so close to escaping, he phoned his mum and told her he could even see Urfa.

But he was caught just eight minutes away from the border and was imprisoned by ISIS for four days.

Without a passport, Hassan did not try to escape again, returning to fight for the jihadists before he was killed in Kobani.

Although it's unclear exactly why Hassan did not have his passport, ISIS is known to encourage its recruits to burn their passports upon swearing allegiance to the caliphate.

The act is considered a test of loyalty and a symbol of their fighters' desire to sever all ties to their home nation.

His family confirmed his death this morning and issued a statement to ITV which said: 'We can confirm that this is indeed Mehdi Hassan. We request that the family be left to grieve.

'Mehdi was a loving boy with a good heart wishing to help Syrians.

'In recent months he had expressed the intention to return home but was worried about the repercussions.

'This is a tragedy and a lesson.'

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Hassan, 19, attended St John's College, a Catholic school in Portsmouth, which charges £10,000 a year for day pupils. He travelled to Syria in October 2013

Hassan had been planning to study international politics at Surrey University in September last year but travelled to Syria to fight with four other young men prior to the start of his course.

He previously attended St John's College, a Catholic school in Portsmouth, which charges £10,000 a year for day pupils and more than double for boarders.

He was active on Twitter, using his alias Abu Dujana, and regularly posted messages from Syria.

His last post, sent just days before his death, said: 'Between 20-40 us strikes daily in ayn al arab. Alhamdulillah they are spending $10's of billions...against themselves.' (sic) 

He reportedly used to call his family in Britain 'once every couple of months,' keeping them updated on conditions in Syria.

He initially told his family that he was going to stay in Syria for just three weeks before he extended his stay for a further three months.

 He phoned his mother and told her to withdraw his place from Surrey University, declaring he would be staying in Syria.

His death comes just days after it was confirmed another member of the jihadist group he travelled to Syria with had also been killed while fighting.

Mamunur Roshid, 24, who joined Hassan, Ifthekar Jaman, 23, Primark worker Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, 25, and Assad Uzzaman, 25, in pretending to go on holiday to Turkey before crossing into Syria, died earlier this week.

CCTV showed the gang-of-five breezing through London's Gatwick Airport and looking like tourists setting off on a fortnight's holiday to Turkey.

In reality, the smiling Britons captured on CCTV were heading to Syria to fight their so-called 'holy war'. 

The fanatics, who called themselves the Britani Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys, were all from Portsmouth, and had been seduced by glamorous tales of martyrdom to join Islamic State (ISIS) in establishing a Muslim caliphate in the Middle East.

Hassan, Roshid, Rahman and Jaman have all since died while fighting in Syria.

The Foreign Office said today it had not yet received any reports about Mr Hassan's death but was 'aware of reports about the death of a British national in Syria'.

A spokesman added: 'The UK has advised for some time against all travel to Syria, where all UK consular services are suspended. 

'As we do not have any representation in Syria, it is extremely difficult to get any confirmation of deaths or injuries and our options for supporting British nationals there are extremely limited.'

Abdul Jalil, chairman of the Portsmouth Jami Mosque which Hassan attended, told the BBC: 'It has been confirmed with the family that he has died. Right now they are very upset.

'I am saddened and again shocked for the community about this news.' 

Speaking after Roshid's death on Tuesday, Mr Jalil said: 'We are very worried about this. The imam will speak about this at the mosque on Friday, telling people not to go to Syria.

'We are doing everything we can, we are speaking with the council, the crime prevention team. We are handing out leaflets about what is happening there.'

A total of ten young extremists from Portsmouth are believed to have left the south coast city for Syria and ISIS.

Earlier this week, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe warned that at least five Britons were joining ISIS every week.

He said: 'We know that over 500 British nationals travelled to join the conflict.

Many have returned and many will wish to do so in the coming months and perhaps in future years.

'We still have an average of five people joining them a week. Five a week doesn't sound much but when you realise there are 50 weeks in a year, 250 more would be 50 per cent more than we think have gone already.

'Those numbers are a minimum. Those are the ones that we believe have gone.

There may be many more who set out to travel to another country and meandered over to Syria and Iraq in a way that is not always possible to spot when you have failed states and leaky borders.'

Earlier this month, four people were arrested for terrorism offences after the former home of Jaman, the ringleader of the Portsmouth group of five of which Hassan belonged, was raided.

Jaman's mother and father, Enu Miah, 57, and Hena Choudhury, 48, were arrested and bailed, and his two brothers Tuhim, 26, and Mustakim, 23, were also arrested along with sister Tamannah Shaharin, 29.