- Farhana Ahmed, 40, posted a string of ISIS propaganda on a Facebook group
- Ahmed used the fake name Kay Adams to encourage terrorism online
- In September Ahmed pleaded guilty to encouraging terrorism and three charges of dissemination of terrorist publications
- She was spared jail after a judge said, "the sooner you get back to your children the better"
A mother who urged others to launch terror attacks in Britain was spared jail yesterday after a judge took pity on her five children.
Farhana Ahmed, 40, shared a "prolific quantity" of ISIS propaganda on a Facebook group whose aim was to link extremists worldwide.
She praised the Paris attacks and posted tips on "how to carry out a stabbing" as well as links to a library of terrorist publications with videos and images of ISIS fighters.
In 2015 she made 19 Facebook posts that "directly or indirectly encouraged terrorism both within the U.K. and abroad," the Old Bailey heard. Ahmed had been in custody since July last year as she awaited trial. Her five home-schooled children, aged between six and 16, were cared for by relatives.
Judge Christopher Moss QC yesterday said he was "moved" by a letter from her eldest son and ruled that she could return to her children.
He handed her a two-year suspended jail sentence after she pleaded guilty to encouraging terrorism and three counts of disseminating terrorist documents.
"In your exceptional case, the sooner you are returned to your children, the better for all concerned," Judge Moss told her. "Since you were charged and remanded in custody this has plainly had an extremely adverse effect on your children who have been looked after by family."
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"You express remorse for your actions which I regard as completely genuine. It’s quite clear to me that you regret in the strongest possible way your criminal conduct."
Judge Moss said Ahmed made the posts at a "very difficult time" in her life.
"There is no realistic danger of you returning to the mindset evident of your conduct of two years ago. You want nothing more than to return to your family and your family wants nothing more than you to return to them. They have suffered greatly by your period in custody."
Last night Conservative MP Philip Davies reacted to the decision with fury, saying, "It is completely outrageous that this woman hasn’t been jailed. People will rightly wonder what you have to do to be sent to prison by the courts these days."
Former Tory MP Angie Bray added, "I wonder if the judge has also considered the suffering of so many children deprived of their parents by the wicked actions of terrorists inspired by the depraved stuff they pick up on certain social media?"
The court heard that the self-described "pro-[ISIS]" Facebook group, called Power Strangers, grew from 721 members to 1,480 in the two months after Ahmed joined. The group’s name is a play on the superhero series Power Rangers.
Using the alias Kay Adams, Ahmed expressed her approval for the Paris terror attacks and published speeches by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his deputy, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, between September and November 2015. Ahmed described them as amazing speeches and called on Allah to "preserve and protect them both". Her posts also included calls for attacks on the West.
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Ahmed, a British national of Wembley in north-west London, traveled to Turkey with her husband Muhammed Burmal Karwani and their children in November 2013.
Ahmed and the children returned here while her husband stayed behind. When she tried to travel to Turkey in August 2015 she was refused entry.
Ahmed had been charged with two further counts of funding terrorism, but these were dropped after the prosecution offered no evidence.
It was alleged she transferred more than £3,000 ($3,943) to a Turkish bank account in the name of her husband in September 2014 and sent him £4,300 ($5,652) in February 2015.
Mr. Karwani, who was accused of terrorism offenses in Turkey and was acquitted, is now back in the U.K.
The case follows a growing row over how to deal with British jihadis who have tried to return from Syria to the U.K.
A recent report found that Britain was home to more jihadis who have returned from Syria than almost all other countries. Only Turkey, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia are home to more people who traveled to fight for ISIS.
Around 850 Britontraveleded to the Middle East to fight and around half are thought to be back here, meaning more than 400 are still at large.
But Britain’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Max Hill QC, sparked fury last month by calling for "naive" teenage jihadis to be spared prosecution in the U.K.
It was then reported that terror suspects including returning jihadis could be offered taxpayer-funded homes, counseling and help finding jobs to stop them carrying out attacks in Britain.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
