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Tareena Shakil, A British mother who took her young son to Syria is beginning a six-year jail sentence after a judge concluded she had “embraced” Islamic State and was prepared to let her child become an Isis fighter.
The 26-year-old fled her home in Birmingham in October 2014, telling her family she had booked a holiday.
Instead, she took her 14-month-old son to Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror network.
She was found guilty last week and is believed to be the first British woman to stand trial accused of joining IS in Syria.
The judge – during sentencing in Birmingham – said she had told “lie after lie” with no signs of remorse.
He was particularly scathing of pictures showing Shakil’s baby son with weapons and wearing an IS balaclava.
“The most abhorrent photographs were those taken of your son wearing a balaclava with an ISIS logo,” said Judge Inman.
“And specifically the photograph of your son, no more than a toddler, standing next to an AK47 under a title which translated from the Arabic means ‘Father of the British Jihadi’.
“You were well aware that the future to which you had subjected your son was very likely to be indoctrination and thereafter life as a terrorist fighter.”
As Shakil’s family looked on, he added: “You told your father you wanted to die as a martyr … no doubt because of your mindset you were embraced by ISIS …
“Your role [in Raqqa] would not be to fight but to be a wife and mother to produce the next generation of fighters.”
Her father reacted angrily outside court, pretending to punch a cameraman and shouting that he hoped no other woman would come back “to face this kind of b*******”.
Tareena Shakil had denied joining IS and encouraging terrorism on Facebook and Twitter.
“You told lie after lie to the police and in court between February and November 2015,” the judge told her.
“Including that you were kidnapped, were not responsible for any tweets and any incriminating photographs were staged against your will.
“You pleaded not guilty and told more lies to the jury which they have understandably rejected.”
The judge said it was “far from clear” exactly what Shakil had done in Raqqa.
She claimed she spent two and a half months in a house for unmarried women before deciding she had “made a mistake” and escaping across the Turkish border.
Tareena Shakil was arrested by counter terrorism officers when she flew back to Heathrow,
Her six-year sentence is made up of four years for joining IS and two years for encouraging acts of terror.
She will be entitled for release on parole after three years.
Agencies/Canadajournal
