Britain's youngest female terror plotter jailed for life after planning Isis-inspired attack on British Museum
A teenager who planned an Isis-inspired terror attack in London after being prevented from joining the terrorist group in Syria has been jailed for life.
Safaa Boular was just 17 when she mounted the plot, making her the youngest woman to be convicted of attempting an atrocity in Britain.
She was jailed for a minimum of 13 years at the Old Bailey after a judge said she had been “old enough to make her own decisions” and still posed a high risk of harm to the public.
Safaa had discussed using guns and grenades to attack potential targets including the British Museum with her online boyfriend, who was an Isis fighter from Coventry.
Safaa Boular was just 17 when she mounted the plot, making her the youngest woman to be convicted of attempting an atrocity in Britain.
She was jailed for a minimum of 13 years at the Old Bailey after a judge said she had been “old enough to make her own decisions” and still posed a high risk of harm to the public.
Safaa had discussed using guns and grenades to attack potential targets including the British Museum with her online boyfriend, who was an Isis fighter from Coventry.
Elizabeth Cook of Safaa Boular appearing at the Old Bailey in London where she denies two charges of preparing acts of terrorism. She originally hoped to marry Naweed Hussain in Raqqa but was prevented from travelling to the Isis stronghold by police, and became even more determined to carry out the atrocity after learning the 32-year-old been killed in an airstrike.
Judge Mark Dennis QC said there was no proof of claims by the defence that Safaa had been deradicalised and no longer considered herself a Muslim.
She had denied two counts of preparing acts of terrorism, by expressing intent to carry out a suicide attack for Isis in Syria, and then by plotting an atrocity in Britain, but was convicted in June.
Prosecutors had called for Safaa to be jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years, telling the Old Bailey she would have committed an attack if she were able to acquire weapons.
Judge Mark Dennis QC said there was no proof of claims by the defence that Safaa had been deradicalised and no longer considered herself a Muslim.
She had denied two counts of preparing acts of terrorism, by expressing intent to carry out a suicide attack for Isis in Syria, and then by plotting an atrocity in Britain, but was convicted in June.
Prosecutors had called for Safaa to be jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years, telling the Old Bailey she would have committed an attack if she were able to acquire weapons.
But Joel Bennathan QC, for the defence, said the teenager had been “groomed and radicalised” by Hussain and others online and there was no real risk of her carrying out a terror attack because of stringent surveillance.
Safaa’s plans were disrupted when she was charged with her earlier attempt to travel to Syria in April 2017, so she passed the torch to her older sister Rizlaine.
She and their mother, Mina Dich, have already been jailed for plotting a knife attack in Westminster, which they discussed with Safaa over the phone from prison in code as an Alice in Wonderland themed “tea party”.
Jailing Rizlaine and Dich in June, Judge Dennis said the mother had played a “significant role” in radicalising both her daughters and bore a “heavy responsibility” for their actions.
Rizlaine first tried to join Isis in Syria in October 2014 but was stopped by Turkish police and sent home, and two years later prosecutors said her younger sister had “developed an extremist mindset and commitment of her own”.
Safaa’s plans were disrupted when she was charged with her earlier attempt to travel to Syria in April 2017, so she passed the torch to her older sister Rizlaine.
She and their mother, Mina Dich, have already been jailed for plotting a knife attack in Westminster, which they discussed with Safaa over the phone from prison in code as an Alice in Wonderland themed “tea party”.
Jailing Rizlaine and Dich in June, Judge Dennis said the mother had played a “significant role” in radicalising both her daughters and bore a “heavy responsibility” for their actions.
Rizlaine first tried to join Isis in Syria in October 2014 but was stopped by Turkish police and sent home, and two years later prosecutors said her younger sister had “developed an extremist mindset and commitment of her own”.
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