British journalist found hanged at Istanbul airport feared she could be ISIS target

A British journalist found dead at an airport in Istanbul feared she could become a target for Islamic State terrorists.

Former BBC producer Jacky Sutton reportedly killed herself after missing a flight and saying she had no money to pay for another one.

She is claimed to have become distressed after airline staff at Ataturk airport told her on Saturday night that she would have to buy a new ticket to Erbil in Iraq.

The respected ex-United Nations worker was later found dead in the toilets by three Russian passengers.

Devastated friends called for a full scale investigation into her mysterious death, claiming the experienced traveller would have never committed suicide .

Others suggested the 50-year-old was murdered as it emerged she once told a pal she feared becoming a victim of “wacko” IS militants .

Close friend Amanda Whitely, posted a blog on the website which included emails between the pair and a short autobiographical piece from Ms Sutton speaking of her life working abroad.

In one email Ms Sutton wrote while staying in Iraq : “I’m in a hotel at the moment – a low key one with hardly any guests.

“The accommodation that had been prepared was basically one room and a bathroom above the office with only one door in and out, and that off the street.

“So if someone came in uninvited I was trapped and, as my Kurdish friends said, ‘It just needs one whacko to hear in the Friday prayers that killing foreigners is jihad, and they’ll come knocking at your door in a heartbeat’.

“Erbil has grown but everyone knows where the foreigners are staying.

“So I am going to stay in the hotel until next week when I will move in with some Kurdish friends who live in a gated community.

“If Daesh (ISIS) wants to attack they will but it will take planning and I won’t be THE target; if the whacko wants to get to heaven he or she will have to contend with armed guards and a choice of targets, and the same with criminal kidnappers.”

Ms Sutton also told how she was given anti-depressants for post-traumatic distress disorder in 1995 after spending five years in Eritrea which she described as a ‘life-changing’ experience.

Ms Sutton, originally from Hertfordshire, was returning to Iraq on Saturday where she was acting director for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).

She had previously held various positions over the years with the United Nations and other humanitarian organisations.

Her boss Anthony Borden, executive director of IWPR, dismissed the idea that she would have been concerned by potentially having to pay for another flight.

He said: “For want of couple hundred quid of plane ticket?

“There’s all manner of ways to cover that.

“Somebody would have handled it for her.

“She would have called a friend.

“The idea of her taking her own life is frankly, it doesn’t match.”

Mr Borden told how Ms Sutton had been back in the UK for a memorial service for her colleague Ammar Al Shahbander.

He previously held Ms Sutton’s position in Iraq but was killed in a car bomb in May.

He added: “It’s a very murky, shocking upsetting moment.

“We’re not in a position to make any accusations just yet.

“We hope the Turkish authorities will investigate.

“We hope British government will insist investigation takes place.”

Ms Sutton’s research was on international development support to female media professionals in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2013 and she had been carrying out field work in Erbil, Iraq, since July.

Another friend and colleague, Christian Bleuer, also expressed his doubts on Twitter.

He wrote: “Toughest woman u could meet.

“Turkish police say she committed suicide cuz she missed her flight?

“I’m not into conspiracies, but if the Turks say a security camera at Istanbul-Ataturk was ‘malfunctioning’ then Jacky Sutton was murdered.”

Journalist and international development worker Rebecca Cooke called for an international investigation.

She said: “Shocking and sad news about the death of Jacky Sutton in Istanbul.

“An international not just local investigation is needed.”

The Foreign Office confirmed it is providing consular assistance to Ms Sutton’s family.

Source: Mirror