Mother who encouraged Isis terror attacks online spared jail 'so she can be with her children'

A mother of five who admitted encouraging people to commit acts of terrorism on a pro-Isis Facebook group has been spared jail so she can return to her children.

Farhana Begum Ahmed, 40, of Wembley, pleaded guilty to one count of encouragement of terrorism and three counts of dissemination of terrorist publications after she was found posting Isis propaganda on a Facebook group entitled Power Strangers.

Ahmed was arrested after police suspected her of being responsible for a number of posts using the pseudonym 'Kay Adam' between September and November 2015.

Her posts included praise for the Paris terror attacks in which 130 people were killed and links to online terrorist publications.

Although the account was under the name Kay Adam, officers were able to link the account to Ahmed. Following her arrest, Ahmed made no comment when questioned by officers, but she was eventually charged in April 2017.

Appearing at the Old Bailey, Ahmed has now been sentenced to two years in jail suspended for two years. She was also given a 10-year notification order.

Ahmed has been held in custody since her arrest in 2015, during which time her children aged between six and 16 were cared for by relatives.

Upon handing her a suspended sentence, Judge Christopher Moss said Ahmed's time spent in custody already had an "extremely adverse effect on the children", reported GetWestLondon.

He added that apart from the "abhorrent behaviour" for which she was sentenced for, the 40-year-old had "devoted her life" to raising her children.

He added: "There is no realistic danger of you returning to the mindset evidence of your conduct of two years ago.

"You want nothing more than to return to your family and your family want nothing more than to return to them.

"They have suffered greatly by your period in custody. Your case is in an entirely exceptional category."

Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command said: "Ahmed was sharing and publishing terrorist material via Facebook and actively encouraging others to carry out terrorist activity.

"She tried to hide behind a fake username and profile, but we were able to identify that she was behind the account and responsible for the posts.

"The issue of online radicalisation is a serious one, but it is one that the public can really help us with. I would urge anyone who sees anything online that is concerning, to report it."