{UAH} Teenager Safaa Boular jailed for life for IS terror plot

Teenager Safaa Boular jailed for life for IS terror plot

• 3 August 2018

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Image copyrightMETROPOLITAN POLICE

The youngest woman to be convicted of plotting a terror attack on British soil has been jailed for life with a 13-year minimum term.

Safaa Boular, 18, of Vauxhall, London, was convicted of preparing acts of terrorism and attempting to travel to Syria to join Islamic State militants.

She had been groomed online by her fiance, an IS fighter, who later died.

Boular was in the UK's first all-female terror cell with her mother and sister, who were jailed in June.

An Old Bailey jury found she had planned to die in a suicide bombing in Syria - but when that was not possible, she hoped to attack the British Museum.

Passing sentence, Judge Mark Dennis QC told Boular her views were "deeply entrenched" and "she was old enough to make her own decisions and her own choices".

"However much she may have been influenced and drawn into extremism, it appeared she knew what she was doing and acted with open eyes," he said.

• The radicalisation of Safaa Boular

• Mother and daughter jailed for terror plot

Defence barrister Joel Bennathan QC said Boular had a neglectful mother and a radicalised sister, describing her as a child from a damaged home who was groomed, radicalised and sexually groomed by a number of grown-ups.

He said teenage years had been chaotic, not least because she had type 1 diabetes, but there had been a "genuine" change in her character since her arrest.

Boular, who presented herself at trial in Western clothing and declaring herself deradicalised, showed no emotion as she was sentenced.

Image captionSafaa Boular in a court sketch from her trial

Aged 16, Boular was radicalised online in the wake of the 2015 Paris terror attacks, when she was sitting her GCSEs.

She met British IS fighter Naweed Hussain on Instagram and after three months of chatting, she declared her love for him with an online marriage ceremony.

The court heard how she had wanted to join Hussain in Syria, but her plan was thwarted when British security services became involved and confiscated her passport.

Image captionSaffaa was radicalised online by British IS fighter Naweed Hussain

After she was stopped from going to Syria, she revealed her plans for a grenade and gun attack on the British Museum to MI5 officers posing as extremists.

Boular was arrested and the her family home was bugged.

But despite being in custody, continued to talk to her sister and mother about an Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party - code for another attack.

Media captionTea party: What sisters Rizlaine and Safaa Boular said to each other about an attack plan

At the Old Bailey her sister, Rizlaine Boular, 22, who was to carry out an attack near Parliament, was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 16 years.

Mina Dich, 44, was sentenced to six years and nine months for helping her daughter.

The pair had pleaded guilty to the preparation of terrorist acts.

They carried out reconnaissance of major landmarks in Westminster and bought knives and a rucksack for their attack.

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