If true, then the brutal animal who enjoyed beheading people on camera for their loved ones and the world to see has been dispatched into the next world.

The Pentagon said on Friday that it is “reasonably certain” that an American airstrike killed Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State’s most notorious executioner.

Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the American-led coalition fighting the militant group, told reporters at a news briefing that the airstrike on Thursday took place near the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, Syria. He said the Pentagon was still seeking final verification that Mr. Emwazi, a 27-year-old British citizen who became known as Jihadi John, was killed in the strike.

Prime Minister David Cameron was quick to praise the American military efforts that have potentially taken out one of Islamic State’s most notorious murderers and mouthpieces.

Speaking outside Downing Street, Mr Cameron said it was not certain whether the strike was successful, but the UK had been working with the US “literally around the clock” to track Emwazi down.

He said any successful attack would have been “a strike at the heart” of Islamic State (IS), and would demonstrate to those who would harm Britain that “we have a long reach, we have unwavering determination and we never forget about our citizens”.

He described Emwazi as an “ongoing and serious threat” to civilians around the world, particularly in Syria and the UK.

Jihadi John was shown on video to be the sadistic executioner of American journalist James Foley, American journalist Steven Sotloff, American aid worker Peter Kassig, British aid worker David Haines, British driver Alan Henning, Japanese thrill seeker Haruna Yukawa, and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. And who knows how many he killed off-camera.

Assuming that he has departed from this life via “a Reaper drone armed with Hellfire missiles,” it was surely a quicker and more merciful death than his victims received at his hands. May their souls now rest in peace, with their killer dead. And may God be the judge of what Mohammed Emwazi now deserves.