Three children removed from woman who planned to take them to Syria

A woman has had three children taken from her care after a High Court judge concluded that she had planned to take them to an area of Syria controlled by the Islamic State (Isis).

The woman had been arrested at Birmingham Airport in the summer of 2015, Mr Justice Keehan heard.

Her mobile phone was found to contain images of children carrying firearms and wearing balaclavas bearing an Isis emblem, he was told.

Security services had also discovered that the telephone number of a suspected Isis fighter had been called 234 times.

Social services bosses at Leicester City Council had asked the judge to make rulings on the futures of the woman’s three children, who are aged between four and 12, at a hearing in a family court in Leicester.

The judge has ruled that the youngsters should live with the woman’s grandparents.

He has not identified the woman in a written ruling but he said the children’s father was thought to be in Chechnya with a terrorist group.

“This family came to the attention of the authorities … when the mother was arrested at Birmingham Airport in the company of the three children,” said Mr Justice Keehan, who sits in the Family Division of the High Court and is based in London, in a written ruling on the case.

“The father is believed to have left this jurisdiction in March 2013. It is understood that he is in Chechnya with a terrorist group.”

He added: “The mother was arrested at Birmingham Airport having checked in nine suitcases on a flight to Munich.

“The mother’s initial account was that she and the children were taking a holiday to see their father in Munich from where they were to travel to France.

“Information however located in the mother’s luggage showed an itinerary which contradicted this and showed onward travel from Munich to Istanbul, where she had booked three nights’ accommodation with the children and her husband.

“Also found in the mother’s luggage, hidden in a paracetamol tablet packet, were telephone numbers which, having been analysed by the police, were found to be Turkish and Indian numbers, one of which had been called some 234 times, that being the number of (someone) who is suspected to be fighting in Syria with the Islamic State.

“An initial examination of the mother’s mobile phone provided the police with sufficient evidence to arrest her, with one message reading: ‘Are you going for good?’.

“The phone also contained images of children with firearms, and wearing balaclavas, bearing the emblem of ‘Islamic State of Iraq’ and the emblem commonly known as ‘Isis’.”

Mr Justice Keehan said checks showed that the woman’s home had been “abandoned”.

“When the police made a search of the mother’s home it was the view of the police and the social worker who later visited that the home had in effect been abandoned,” he said

“The mother had destroyed or disposed of many items relating to the children, but she had with her their birth certificates and her marriage certificate. She had made plans to sell her car to her brother.”

He added: “Various electronic devices were found in bin bags at the property, along with another of the mother’s mobile phones. Those devices, along with the mother’s mobile phone, were examined.

“The results of those examinations indicated that the mother had been in conversation with a large number of people known to be linked to Islamic State. One particular individual … is known to be a prominent member of Islamic State.”

Mr Justice Keehan said he thought that the woman had lied when giving evidence at a family court hearing.

“I was left in no doubt that the mother intended to travel to Syria with or without the father,” said the judge.

“The mother had been in contact with Jihadists … solely for the purposes of going to Syria.

“I found that it was plain that if the mother had succeeded in her attempts to enter Syria, and in particular to join Islamic State, the children would have been put at extreme risk of very, very significant harm, if not death.

“She had been provided with funds by persons unknown.

“I concluded that I was bound to draw the inference that the money found in the mother’s possession had come from Jihadist supporters.”

The judge said social services’ bosses had asked him to conclude that the woman’s aim was to go to a “war zone in Syria controlled by Islamic State” permanently, that she was driven by religious ideology, and that she had placed her children at risk of radicalisation and death.

He made the findings sought.

Mr Justice Keehan said the children had initially been taken from the woman under a police protection order and placed into temporary foster care pending decisions about their long-term futures.

He said it would not be in their best interests to return to their mother’s care and ruled that they should live with their maternal grandparents.

The judge gave no indication as to whether the woman had faced criminal charges.

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