Praying in Scarborough Hospital: The NHS doctor who left wife and children to join Islamic State in Syria

Issam Abuanza, from Sheffield, worked for the health service in Scarborough before walking out on his family in 2014.

Today his sister Najla said their parents would “never forgive him”.

Dr Abuanza’s defection was disclosed in Islamic State recruitment documents leaked to the BBC.

The Palestinian is believed to have worked at Scarborough Hospital between October 2012 and August 2013.

Four months before leaving there, he posted a YouTube video of himself praying at in the hospital’s on-call room.

The York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, which runs Scarborough Hospital, confirmed “a doctor with that name” had worked there. A spokesman said he would have gone through “the usual checks” during the recruitment process.

These would have included checking Dr Abuanza’s professional qualifications, gained in Baghdad the year before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He would also have been required to declare any criminal convictions.

Scarborough’s MP Robert Goodwill said: “It’s shocking that someone who has worked to save lives in the NHS is now promoting one of the most murderous and horrific regimes.”

Dr Abuanza’s sister told the BBC: “He used to be quite the dashing young man, very modern. I’ve no idea how he became like this or who showed him the path to terror.

“My dad’s wish was to see him before he dies. He has spent all his money on him and his education and this is what he does.”

Dr Abuanza, 37, gained his medical licence in 2009 and is believed to be the first NHS doctor known to have joined the Islamic State.

He posted “God bless this act of terrorism” on his Facebook page on the day of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris on January 7 last year.

The attacks at the headquarters of the satirical magazine saw 12 staff members gunned down by two Islamists shouting “Allahu akbar”.

Dr Abuanza described the US as “godless” in another post made on the social media site.

He also said he wished that a Jordanian pilot burnt alive by IS had taken longer to die.

One photo posted appears to show him reading the Koran while cradling an automatic rifle.

Another apparently shows him posing in doctors’ scrubs with a pistol holster slung over one arm.

Mr Goodwill, who is also Transport Minister, added: “We read about how young Muslim men are being indoctrinated by the Islamic State but this man was a qualified doctor, proving that even those who are very intelligent can be hoodwinked.”

He stopped short from speculating that Dr Abuanza could be among many other professionals to have joined IS.

“I hope not, the majority of Muslim people I have met are very sensible,” he added. “This is a perversion of their religion.”

Mr Goodwill said he did not recognise Dr Abuanza’s name but acknowledged they could have crossed paths when he visited Friday prayers held at the hospital.