Warped sympathies of the legal aid quango

FLeeing her home in east London aged 15 to join islamic State, Shamima Begum turned her back on a Britain she hated, its rule of law and justice.

in Syria, she became a jihadi bride for the murderous death cult, which meted out punishment on the spot. Chillingly, she was ‘OK’ with summary executions and ‘unfazed’ at seeing captives’ severed heads.

now it is claimed she stitched suicide bombers into explosive vests, carried a Kalashnikov automatic rifle and served in the feared ‘morality police’ – shattering her story that she was merely a fighter’s wife.

Once the warped adventure was over, unrepentant Begum – now 19 – begged to be rescued from her spartan refugee camp. instead, Sajid Javid revoked her citizenship.

today, she appears markedly less contemptuous of British justice. For in a decision that will make many shudder with revulsion, the Legal Aid Agency has granted her taxpayers’ money to challenge the Home Secretary. the Mail shares that sentiment. every filament balks at having anything to do with this abhorrent teenager.

And while it is right that every defendant, no matter what their background, wealth or crime, has a lawyer provided, it sticks in the craw when an individual has so blatantly turned their back on our country.

the Hyde Park bombing victims and their relatives. the Hillsborough families. iraq and Afghanistan veterans caught up in a witch-hunt led by ambulance-chasing law firms. All were refused legal aid.

Yet again, the justice system has got its priorities cockeyed.