- Muslim convert Gianluca Tomaselli, 27, left family to fight for ISIS in 2013
- Father of two has been able to return to a comfortable life in Britain
- He is working as a parking attendant at an NHS hospital in London
Muslim convert Gianluca Tomaselli (pictured), 27, allegedly travelled to Syria in 2013 to become a fighter
A British jihadi who left his family to fight for Islamic State is working at an NHS hospital after returning to Britain.
Leaked files exposing the terror group’s network of recruits reveal that Muslim convert Gianluca Tomaselli, 27, allegedly travelled to Syria in 2013 to become a fighter.
Despite links to a jihadi faction that encouraged other so-called ‘Lions’ in the UK to take up arms in the Middle East, the father of two has been able to return from the battlefield to a comfortable life in Britain.
Italian-born Tomaselli, who grew up in north London, is working as a parking attendant at a hospital in the capital.
Colleagues at Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, east London, where Tomaselli issues fines to visitors, said yesterday that they knew nothing about his journey to join the ranks of the barbaric group.
The ease of his return, despite being known to MI5, will raise concerns about how closely the authorities are able to monitor home-grown extremists trained by IS.
The security services have been under increased strain in recent years, with hundreds of Britons having reintegrated into society after stints with extreme groups in Iraq and Syria.
Officials have warned that IS-trained extremists are plotting atrocities in the UK following attacks in Paris and Brussels.
Tomaselli abandoned his wife and young children to travel to Turkey in 2013, telling some relatives he was trying to find work. Others thought he had gone on holiday.
But a cache of IS documents revealing the personal details of thousands of the organisation’s members states that Tomaselli crossed the border into Syria in October of the same year, declaring himself a ‘fighter’.
The document gives his date of birth, reveals that he attended university, and contains details about how he got into the war-torn country.
Tomaselli is thought to have returned to Britain at the end of 2014 and to be living now with his wife and children in a council house in east London.
He converted to Islam along with his two sisters when his mother married a Somalian man after separating from their father.
But he became estranged from his mother and stepfather following a family fallout surrounding his wedding in 2010.
His mother, Stefana Graziano, said she was stunned by claims that her son had entered Syria and said relatives did not know how he developed an interest in radical Islam.
‘I’m under stress about this situation, I don’t know anything about these things,’ she said. ‘Sometimes he calls me but he left my house in 2010.’
Italian-born Tomaselli, who grew up in north London, is working as a parking attendant at a hospital in the capital
Tomaselli has been linked to a group called Rayat al-Tawheed – meaning ‘Banner of God’ – which is made up of British combatants and has close ties to IS.
The British jihadi faction has posted a series of video messages issuing threats to attack Britain and America.
Tomaselli bears a striking similarity to a fighter using the name Abu Abdullah al-Britani, a similar name to that on his entry in the leaked IS files.
Abu Abdullah appeared in several propaganda videos wearing a balaclava and describing life in Syria whilst brandishing an AK-47.
Tomaselli refused to comment when asked about his visit to Turkey and Syria and why his name appeared in the IS documents.
He previously issued a statement saying that he was ‘assisting the authorities’.
Tomaselli grew up in Camden where he attended the former South Camden Community School which was predominantly made up of Muslim children from immigrant families.
Former neighbours described the family as ‘good people’.
Last week it emerged that Ali Alosaimi, a Kuwaiti who trained as a Merchant Navy officer in Britain before travelling to fight in Syria, was also named in the files.
A spokesman for Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs Whipps Cross Hospital, said: ‘The safety of patients and staff is our number one priority, and we are seeking assurances from CP Plus (the car park operator) that individuals contracted to work at our sites are subject to the appropriate vetting procedures.’
CP Plus said: ‘With all our employees we follow the correct employment protocols. We will co-operate fully with the authorities and help with any of their enquiries.’
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘It would not be appropriate to discuss individuals that may or may not be the subject of an investigation.’
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