A kidnapped journalist who survived  Jihadi John has told of the blood-chilling moment the British extremist ran the cold blade of a sword across his neck in a mock execution at an ISIS prison. Javier Espinosa, a Spaniard captured alongside colleagues while reporting the conflict between President Assad's regime and militant soldiers in 2013, was freed last year after a deal was brokered between his government and front-line extremists. He had spent months at the mercy of Mohammed Emwazi, the British hooded executioner now ominously referred to as Jihadi John, and other terrorists while in captivity. Scroll down for video . Freed: The moment journalist Javier Espinosa was reunited with his son on the tarmac of a Spanish airport after spending months in the captivity of ISIS terrorists . Now, a year after his emotional reunion with his children on the tarmac of a Spanish airport, the correspondent has revealed the depths of horror he and dozens of other hostages faced daily. In an harrowing account printed by the Sunday Times, he relives the moment Emwazi, now the world's most wanted man, ran the cold blade of a sword across his neck, threatening execution. 'He caressed my neck with the blade but kept talking: "Feel it? Cold, isn't it? Can you imagine the pain you'll feel when it cuts? Unimaginable pain,"' Mr Espinosa wrote. It was, he continued, one of 'several episodes of psychological and physical torture, privations and humiliations' prisoners endured. Emwazi, who 'wanted maximum drama', was among 'psychotic' extremists who pillaged the Spaniard's belongings to put towards a haul of stolen cash apparently so large there were rooms filled with millions of dollars. It was, he continued, one of 'several episodes of psychological and physical torture, privations and humiliations' prisoners endured. Mr Espinosa was snatched with his colleague photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova when the pair were working near the Turkish border in 2013. Mr Espinosa and his colleague Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were kept alongside other hostages for months . Emwazi (right before joining extremists in Syria and left in his trademark hood) was among Mr Espinosa's captors . Alongside American journalists and aid workers including Britons Alan Henning and David Haines, they were locked in ISIS prisons - as Mr Espinosa describes them 'elegant mansions' and the former government headquarters in Raqqa - across the war-ravaged country for months. While their comrades have all but been murdered - John Cantlie is seemingly still alive but in the group's clutches - the two Spaniards were freed, spared to tell the world of the group's atrocities. Among the most horrifying anecdotes was a threat to exhume the body of murdered Russian engineer Sergei Gorbunov and make remaining hostages sleep next to his bullet-riddled head. 'They liked scaring their captives, forcing us to look at photos of Sergei Gorbanov..."You might end up with him,' recalled Mr Espinosa. '"We'll make you dig him up and put you in another tomb where you can sleep with him."' Being woken by the screams of other hostages as they were tortured in their cells was commonplace. On one occasion, the Spaniard notes, a young boy was beaten to a pulp after being caught smoking - a forbidden habit under oppressive Sharia law. The European and American hostages who disappeared had been either freed or moved, Mr Espinosa claims to have been told. Instead they were being picked off one by own, their deaths showcased to the world in barbaric propaganda videos. While the journalist doesn't describe in depth any hopes he had of escaping, he revealed that asking his captors how to pray was among his first actions once taken. In March last year Mr Espinosa, a veteran journalist for the Spanish national newspaper El Mundo, and Mr Vilanova were taken into the care of Turkish authorities after six months of captivity. Once across the border he contacted his newspaper and his wife who later tweeted: 'Pure happiness'. To secure his release the Spanish government is understood to have paid a sum to the terror group. France, Italy, and Germany are other countries to have complied with extremists demands to ensure the release of kidnapped citizens. Britain and the U.S. are the only two to have stayed true to a UN agreement not to give in to such requests. As a result, jihadis claim, a handful of journalists and aid workers from both countries have been slaughtered. His first victim: American journalist James Foley was the first Western citizen to have been killed on film by Jihadi John in a sickening propaganda video . Slaughtered: Britons Alan Henning (left) and David Haines (right) are among the hostages who were savagely murdered by the group . Mohammed Emwazi was unmasked as Jihadi John . The son of a Kuwaiti minicab driver, young Emwazi arrived in Britain speaking only a few words of English, and appeared more interested in football than in Islam. He went to mosque with his family, who spoke Arabic to each other, but wore Western clothing and became popular with his British classmates at St Mary Magdalene Church of England primary school in Maida Vale, West London. After finishing primary school in 1999, young Mohammed moved to Quintin Kynaston Community Academy, in St John’s Wood, where he is believed to have studied alongside former X Factor judge and pop star Tulisa Contostavlos. Once there, he became more observant of his religion and began wearing more traditional Islamic dress, and his sisters began to wear the hijab. The university has since been linked with several proponents of radical Islam, and Emwazi appeared to have fallen under their sway. He began attending different mosques and was known to associate with Bilal el-Berjawi, who was killed by a drone strike in Somalia three years ago. In August 2009, after his graduation, Emwazi flew to Tanzania in East Africa with friends and told authorities they were going on a wildlife safari. But the group was refused entry and put on a plane to the Netherlands, where Emwazi later claimed he was questioned by an MI5 agent called Nick. The British officer accused him of planning to travel to Somalia to join the militant group Al Shabaab, he said, and said MI5 had been watching him. Emwazi denied the accusation – bragging that he would not take a designer Rocawear sweater in his luggage if he was planning to join Somalian rebels. In emails to the campaign group Cage, Emwazi said: ‘He [Nick] knew everything about me; where I lived, what I did, the people I hanged around with.’ ‘Nick’ then tried to recruit the 21-year-old, Emwazi claimed, and threatened him when he refused to cooperate. Emwazi said the officer told him: ‘You’re going to have a lot of trouble…You’re going to be known…You’re going to be followed…Life will be harder for you.’ On his return to Britain, Emwazi said his family told him they had been ‘visited’, and he claimed a woman he had been planning to marry broke off their engagement because her family had also been contacted and were scared. According to Emwazi, his family then began planning for him to travel to Kuwait to get him away from the ‘harassment’ he had suffered in Britain and he went to work for a computer programming company in the emirate. In 2013 after changing his name by deed poll he made another attempt to enter Kuwait but was rejected. Disappearing from home he was not seen again until appearing in ISIS propaganda films, his face masked as he slit the throats of innocents. His identity was revealed last month. He has not appeared in online footage since.
Javier Espinosa spent months at the mercy of ISIS extremists in Syria . The Spanish journalist was kidnapped alongside his colleague in 2013 . Among his captors was Jihadi John who 'wanted maximum drama'
'Psychotic' British terrorist threatened him with execution with a sword . Mr Espinosa and his colleague were moved between the group's 'prisons'
Unlike others held at the properties they were not beaten or tortured . He and photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were freed in March 2013 .