British Son Of Hollywood Movie Director, 26, Is Revealed As Bloodthirsty Star Of Al-Qaeda

The white British son of a film director has converted from Catholicism to Islam and become an al-Qaeda fighter in Syria, the MailOnline has revealed.

Lucas Kinney, 26, has become a figurehead for the jihadis, appearing in online propaganda videos designed to encourage new recruits to sign up.

The first white British convert to emerge in Syria, as a Home Counties schoolboy he took holy communion at a Roman Catholic church and attended Catholic primary and secondary schools. As a teenager, he even spoke of being a priest.

His father Patrick, 59, worked closely with Steven Spielberg on films including Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade and was assistant director on a long series of blockbusters.

Mother Deborah Phipps, 53, who was divorced from Lucas's father when he was still at primary school, told yesterday of her dread that her son will be the next Briton killed by a RAF drone strike or in a Russian bombardment, and her fears that he might become a suicide bomber.

Mrs Phipps, who receives occasional emails from her son, is at a loss to explain how he went from a bright, normal teenager to a Muslim fanatic.

After leaving school he attended Leeds University but dropped out after a year. He played in a series of rock bands then went to live with his father in Vienna. It was there that he is believed to have been radicalised.

He is now a figurehead of the Syrian al-Qaeda-linked group Jabhat al-Nusra, and has starred in two propaganda videos posted online under the nom de guerre Abu Basir al-Britani.