A young mother who knew about her husband's extreme jihadi links but chose to ignore them and took part in a plot to get money to him has been jailed for 28 months.
Today (November 13) at the Old Bailey, Judge Nicholas Hilliard sentenced her to 28 months and seven day in jail, she will serve half of the time in custody and half on licence.
The mother of two young children blubbed in court as her sentence was read out, Judge Hilliard said: "I am sure that your husband (Aine Davis) was engaged in terrorism when he left the UK in July 2013, I am sure that he was engaged with violent jihadi under the black of flag of ISIS. "You knew he was involved in guns and I am sure you knew he was involved in violent jihadi, you did not express shock or horror or ask for an explanation, instead you showed photos to your child."
The judge went on to say that he believed that the initiation of it all came from Aine Davis and El-Wahabi committed the offence because she was infatuated with him.
He added: "You even contemplated taking your children out to Turkey so that they could be closer to him. You were free to refuse to help him.
"I have considered your children in deciding the sentence, your children are innocent victims, they are entirely blameless but now suffer without either parent. I do understand the impact of separation on children."
During the trial the court heard, that Nawal Msaad, 27, a British student supposedly played an active role as a ‘trusted courier’ for the husband of El-Wahabi , who had left the UK to pursue his life as an extreme jihadist fighter.
Msaad was found not guilty on August 13.
Text messages sent between El-Wahabi, Msaad and Davis that demonstrated the organisation of the smuggling were read out in court during the trial for the benefit of the jury.
Both the British girls were accused of “between 13 and 16 January 2014 within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court jointly entering into or became concerned in an arrangement as a result of which money was made available or was to be made available to another, and they knew or had reasonable cause to suspect that it would or may be used for the purposes of terrorism.”
SO15 Counter Terrorism Command, A/Commander Terri Nicholson said: “A necessary component of terrorism is finance. Whether the funding of terrorism takes place in the UK or overseas, the offences are serious and will be subject to thorough investigation. In this case, a large quantity of cash was seized which would otherwise have supported terrorist activity in the Syrian conflict.
“This conviction should be viewed as a very clear message not to support those engaged in terrorism. There are well established charities through which people can donate for humanitarian purposes in Syria. These charities have experience in providing such assistance in high risk, insecure and dangerous environments. Donations must be made via these routes.”
