A YOUNG Poole man was just hours from starting his journey home from Syria when he was killed attempting to defuse a suicide belt.

Bournemouth Coroner's Court heard Jack Holmes, known as Jac, had carried out the procedure many times before, but suffered fatal head injuries when the device detonated unexpectedly.

Mr Holmes, who was 24 at the time of his death in Raqqa on October 23 last year, had spent much of the previous three years in Syria fighting ISIS alongside the Kurdish YPG militia.

He was just hours away from boarding a transport to a safer location, prior to returning home, when he was killed. It was just days after the city's liberation.

Raqqa had been the ISIS capital, and its liberation was a major blow to the group.

Once a painter and decorator, who had worked on IT for Bournemouth council, Mr Holmes wanted to fight ISIS having told his mother Angie Blannin that the bloodthirsty Islamist group was "not a Syrian problem, but a world problem".

The court heard there had been difficulties obtaining information about Mr Holmes death from Syria, with much coming from his comrades in the YPG. His family praised the work of DC John Marshall of Dorset Police, calling him "a credit to the force".

Coroner Rachel Griffin recorded a verdict of accidental death, stating: "It is clear to me that what occurred was wholly unexpected, he was not killed in combat, he was tragically killed trying to save others."

After the hearing, Mrs Blannin and Mr Holmes' father Peter both praised their son's courage.

"He was courageous, kind-hearted and compassionate, and he didn't think the Government was doing enough at the time," said Mrs Blannin.

Peter Holmes said his "warrior" son had been inspired by the growth of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria and its liberal aspirations for the Kurdish region, and might well have remained in the country anyway to fight against "Turkish invasion".

He also compared British volunteers fighting with the Kurds to the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War. "I hope in time the Government comes to recognise what these volunteers have done, instead of trying to prosecute them to appease Turkey," he said.