AN IRISH WOMAN living in the West Midlands has been convicted of a Syria-related terrorism offence.
Omagh native Lorna Moore was found guilty of failing to disclose information about her husband’s planned travel to the conflict zone.
Her husband, 34-year-old Sajid Aslam, is believed to be currently fighting in Syria, West Midlands Police said.
Moore, who had denied the charges, was among a group of four to be convicted of terrorism offences at the Old Bailey yesterday.
The court heard how her co-accused Ayman Shaukat, 27 – referred to as the Karma Chameleon in court – helped Aslam and defendant Alexander Nash, 22, make their way to Syria to join Islamic State.
Aslam departed for Syria in August 2014 and when he made it across the Turkish-Syrian border sent a coded message to Shaukat, whose role was described as “pivotal”, to inform him of his success.
The Belfast Telegraph reports how the court was told that within months of her husband’s departure, Moore had booked flights for her and her three children to fly to Majorca but their final destination was Syria.
The prosecution said her plan was revealed in a text from Nash’s wife in Turkey saying “see you there”.
Trainee maths teacher Moore, 33, who is originally from Omagh in Co. Tyrone, met Sajid Aslam in Manchester in 2000, when they were both students in the city.
Moore converted to Islam in 2003 and the couple were married soon after.
They had two children in quick succession and Moore fell pregnant with their third child in 2013.
When giving evidence in court, Moore said she would never put her children’s lives in danger, saying: “They mean the world to me”.
The counter-terrorism unit of West Midlands police began their investigation into the alleged offences in 2014, when the parents of another member of the Walsall-based group were concerned he had travelled to Syria.
Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said: “As a result of these enquiries, counter-terrorism investigating officers discovered Ayman Shaukat’s instrumental role in helping organise travel plans for other members of this group, including Nash and Aslam’s preparation for acts of terrorism.
“Further investigations revealed both Kerry Thomason’s role in assisting her husband Siadatan’s plans to prepare for acts of terrorism and Lorna Moore’s knowledge of Sajid Aslam’s, preparation for suspected engagement in terrorism.”
Moore, Nash, Shaukat and a fourth member of the group, Kerry Thomason, faced a three-week trial in the Old Bailey.
Moore, with an address at Glebe Street, Walsall, was given conditional bail by the judge out of concern for her children.
Nash, of Bentley Road, Walsall, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for attempting to travel to Turkey on a passport stolen from his brother.
Thomason, of no given address, who was charged with assisting to prepare for an act of terrorism will appear before court for sentencing in June.
Ringleader Shaukat, with an address at Pargeter Street, Walsall, will be sentenced at a later date.
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