Update to this story.

Via IBT:

A notorious Isis henchman accused of beheading gay men and throwing them off rooftops has escaped from police custody just minutes after being arrested in Iraq.

Abu Omer – known as “White Beard” thanks to his impressive facial hair – was arrested in Mosul at the beginning of the year. Local and international media reported his detention but now it seems that the sadistic jihadi was back on the road in no time at all.

Human rights watch group the Clarion Project described the escape as a “remarkable failure of the Iraqi justice system – [an] Isis religious leader was arrested and released just minutes later after paying a $7,500 [£5,500] bribe.”

The grisly executioner has been connected to dozens of killings inside the so-called Caliphate. Most shockingly, he appears to feature in an infamous video from 2015 that shows three men accused of homosexuality being publicly beheaded.

Describing the security debacle, local official Zuheir Hazzen el-Jaburi told Ayn Al Iraq: “I was in Mosul when a force from police intelligence arrested a man. After questioning they were told he was the mufti for the right bank of the [river in the] city – an Isis member.

“We asked people who he was, and they proved he really was an Isis mufti. After he was arrested, he left a motorbike behind. An hour later we saw the motorbike was no longer there.

“We inquired about it. They said he was released 10 minutes earlier after he paid 75 notes [$7,500].”