Dom Joly reveals horror when classmate bought severed head into school growing up in Lebanon

Dom Joly has revealed that he was left scarred when a classmate brought a severed head into school while he was growing up in Beirut.

Joly was born to British parents in Lebanon, and experienced life during the country’s bitter civil war, which began in the 1970s and ended in 1990.

The comedian behind Trigger Happy TV was seven when another boy brought the head into class.

“There had been an execution and six people had been beheaded,” he told The Sunday People.

“This kid turned up with a head in a bag and just produced it to the class. That was quite traumatic, probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen.

“There was also a constant fear of my dad being kidnapped.

“A lot of people we knew were taken hostage. My dad had a sales business and would take a different route down to the port every day.

“Shelling was a constant fear. Dad was an emotional wreck but he refused to leave the house to go to the bomb shelter. He slept upstairs.

“I genuinely don’t think I did work through my trauma from Lebanon. This was the 70s, people didn’t talk about trauma. I just became a goth.”

Joly was speaking after visiting Ukraine, where civil war has raged since 2014, with Save The Children.

He went on to say that he took the trauma of growing up in civil war when he family moved back to England.

“As a kid and it would have really helped me if I’d talked stuff through, but you just didn’t do that at the time.

“I’m really bad at therapy but it’d have been interesting if I’d had it as a kid. Noise really affected me and I noticed this with kids in Ukraine too.

“Doors slamming would make me jump, also people whistling.”

Of the situation he witnessed in Ukraine, he said: “It’s trench warfare. It’s like the First World War, three hours from Heathrow. It’s a powerful thing, to think kids of 15 are being blown up.

“My kids grumble about getting up in the morning. They know no hardship.”

To donate to Save The Children, visit Savethechildren.org.uk/donate.

Read more
Two more acts leave The X Factor
Seann and Katya voted off Strictly
Sara Cox to replace Mayo and Whiley on Radio 2