Walsall Syria arrests: Trainee maths teacher found guilty of concealing husband's plans to join Isis

A trainee maths teacher from Walsall has been found guilty of failing to tell the authorities that her husband was planning to join Islamic State (Isis). Mother-of-three, Lorna Moore, 33, originally from County Tyrone, is one of a number of British Muslims from the West Midlands town accused of intending to travel to the self-declared Islamic caliphate.

Moore's husband, Sajid Aslam, 34, has already headed to Syria to live under Daesh (Isis) rule with a network of other Brits, including two pregnant women and a third woman who is believed to have had a baby since she arrived in Isis territory.

Ayman Shaukat, 27, was also convicted on 24 February for his role in helping Aslam and another man, Muslim-convert Alex Nash, 22, to travel to the war zone. West Midlands Police believe that at least a dozen people from Walsall tried to reach Syria in 2014.

The court heard how Muslim-convert Moore, who was born a protestant in Omagh, had married Aslam after meeting him at Manchester University. She denied the charge and told the court that she had suffered psychological abuse from her husband and had sought a divorce.

Aslam, a supply teacher, was driven to the airport by Shaukat in August 2014, as Moore took their children to Butlins holiday park in Skegness. On arrival in Syria he sent back a video link to Shaukat with a song called 'Made It' by Cash Money Heroes.

The crown alleged Moore was indeed planning herself to head to Syria and booked flights to Palma, Majorca, but her real destination was revealed in a text from Nash's wife in Turkey saying "see you there". Moore denied this in court saying that she would "never" put her children's lives in danger.

Jake Petty, 25, also known as Abu Yaqoob Britany, was the first British Muslim to join Isis from the Walsall network – he was killed in December 2014. Soon after Nash and his pregnant wife Yousma Jan, 20, were stopped by Turkish authorities as they attempted to make it to Syria. He took sole responsibility for the plan to join the jihadists and admitted preparing acts of terrorism, while a charge against his wife was discontinued.

Petty's former school friend Isaiah Siadatan, 24, also travelled to join Isis. His pregnant wife Kerry Thomason, 24, was supposed to fly out with their two children but was stopped by police.

Siadatan is thought to have been killed in 2015, although his death remains unconfirmed. Thomason has previously pleaded guilty to helping her husband in preparation of his terrorist acts. A date for a sentencing hearing for Moore and Shaukat is yet to be fixed.