Gavel
A mother of six dreamed about sending her eight-year-old son to fight jihad Getty Images

An extremist mother of six who dreamed of sending her eight-year-old son to fight jihad has been jailed for more than five years.

Ruan Khan, 35, from Luton, was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court after pleading guilty to four changes of disseminating terrorist publications between July and September 2013.

She radicalised others via Facebook and WhatsApp to promote "violent fundamentalism" on the internet.

In one Facebook posting, she wrote of her son: "I pictured the future while I was zipping up his jacket, in sha Allah I'll be tying the shahada bandana round his forehead and hand him his rifle and send him out to play the big boys game."

In another she appealed to her fellow Muslim women to fight for Allah.

"Sisters, if you love your sons, husbands and brothers, prove it by sending them to fight for Allah."

Khan, who lived at Maple Road West, was caught after she sent details of a route from Turkey into Syria to an undercover police officer.

During her sentencing, police also discovered photos of Khan's toddler holding guns and swords.

"The purpose of your messages was to further your own deeply entrenched violent ideology to encourage others to pursue violent Jihadist activities including suicide missions, mass killing and other terrorist acts, said Judge Peter Birts QC.

"You are not only deeply radicalised yourself, but you were a major radicaliser of others on Facebook and WhatsApp.

"Your purpose, I'm satisfied, was to encourage and promote your particular brand of violent fundamentalism via the Internet.

"You were deeply committed to radicalising others, including your children, into violent Jihadist extremism."

On BBC current affairs programme Newsnight, she previously justified her actions by saying she was "posting up my belief" then later described the UK as "the last place I would want to live in".

"The majority of people with my mindset are actually behind bars because they don't want to stay in Britain," she added.

One of Britain's most infamous radical Islamic preachers, Anjem Choudary, condemned her "unjust" jail sentence on Twitter.