A mother has been found guilty of two terrorist offences after she saved up £1,200 for one-way flights to take herself and her children to Afghanistan to join ISIS.
Farishta Jami, from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks, was convicted at Leicester Crown Court on Thursday on two counts of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorism brought under section 5 of the 2006 Terrorism Act relating to her conduct between September 2022 and January last year.
Warwickshire Police said the court heard Jami was planning to travel to Afghanistan “to martyr herself” and had saved £1,200 to pay for one-way flights to Afghanistan for herself and her children.
Jami had shared graphic and violent extremist material on social media, posting videos, documents and images as well as participating in multiple group chats and channels that support the so-called Islamic State.
Police said she had also researched weaponry and gathered information relating to the assembly and disassembly of an AK-47 rifle. Jami is due to be sentenced today (Friday).
Commenting on the case, the head of specialist operations for Warwickshire Police, Superintendent Darren Webster, said: “This was a complex case interlinking terrorism and serious criminal offences, and we welcome the outcome today.
“Jami’s actions had the potential for real-world implications and the harm they could have caused cannot be underestimated.
“Thankfully, with excellent partnership working between West Midlands Counter Terrorism Police and ourselves, we were able to prevent this.”
The court had been told that detectives searched Jami’s address, they seized several devices, sim cards in a bag stuffed down the side of her bed, cash hidden away and found she was trying to conceal passports.
She also shared graphic and violent extremist material between September 2022 and January 2024 on social media – posting videos, documents and images as well as participating in various group chats joining multiple pro-Daesh groups and channels.
She was an administrator on several of the groups, overseeing the posting and messaging of the users. Some of the groups had over 700 members and disseminated large amounts of propaganda including instructional videos to make devices so ISKP could see that she was loyal and committed to the cause.
Head of CTP WM Detective Chief Superintendent Alison Hurst added: “Jami expressed a desire to travel as early as July 2023 and by November she had accumulated a significant amount of cash which crystallised her intention to travel.
“In a two-week period at the end of October/early November, she carried out 22 separate searches of flights to Afghanistan. It is notable that a significant number of the searches were for one-way tickets for herself and her children.
“We welcome today’s verdict, Jami was determined to travel to join ISIS, despite claiming she was planning to visit family but we found no evidence of any contact with her family to arrange a visit to see them in Afghanistan or Pakistan.”
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