25 years in jail for jihadi bride who told judge: I’m sorry for the bomb plot ...I was locked in an abusive relationship
THE secret wife of a jihadi bombmaker was jailed for a record 25 years yesterday despite a lastditch plea for mercy.
Sana Ahmed-Khan, 24, was branded a danger to society after encouraging her husband to launch a suicide attack on the anniversary of the 7/7 bombings.
An 11th-hour attempt by the middleclass graduate to have her sentence cut was rejected by an Old Bailey judge, who said she had played a key role in the plot.
Ahmed-Khan, the daughter of a magistrate, broke the silence she had kept since her arrest to lay the blame on husband Mohammed Rehman in a hand-written letter to the judge.
She accused the unemployed drug addict of leading her into an ‘abusive and controland ling relationship’ that left her with no idea of his ‘true character’.
Rehman, 25, who married Ahmed-Khan in a secret Muslim ceremony in 2013, was jailed for 27 years for amassing chemicals preparing a bomb.
But Ahmed-Khan wrote that she ‘should have distanced’ herself from him ‘a long time ago’ and had recently divorced him.
But the judge did not accept her claims, describing her as a ‘radicalised Islamist’ committed to the sick ideology of Islamic State.
He said: ‘Although I do not consider it likely that you were initially attracted by the excitement which appeared to be offered by engagement with the actions of Islamic State, I am satisfied it was you who became interested in the theological justification of its aims, and thereafter encouraged Mohammed Rehman to pursue its ideology.
‘Once you had gained that mindset, I am satisfied that you determined to fulfil the Islamic State’s call for jihad, by the carrying out of an act of terrorism within the United Kingdom.’
Jailing her for life with a minimum of 25 years – the longest for a woman terrorist in Britain, Mr Justice Baker said she may have been encouraged by the ‘hopelessness’ of her relationship and the belief that the couple would be ‘reunited in paradise’.
He said their plot was at an advanced stage and many could have died if they carried it out.
The judge said the reason for Rehman’s jihadist conversion ‘may never be fully known’ but added: ‘The type of act you envisaged not only encompassed the use of explosive substances, used to maximum effect to cause multiple injuries and fatalities, but included a suicide bombing; an act which envisaged martyrdom, a notion specifically resurrected by Islamic State to encourage this type of venture.’
He said primary school helper Ahmed-Khan took a ‘full and active part’ in the plot by giving Rehman cash to buy bomb chemicals.
‘I reject both your attempts to limit your role in these events and the sentiments which you expressed in your letter,’ he said.
‘The reality is that none of the very real preparations that had been made for its execution could have been possible without the funding which you provided.’
The three-week trial heard that Rehman dreamed of detonating a suicide bomb in a crowded place.
Dubbing himself ‘Silent Bomber’ on social media, he spent hundreds of pounds on chemicals and laboratory equipment, and even videoed himself making test detonations.
But his plot was foiled by police in May after they were alerted to a tweet in which he asked his followers whether he should target the London Underground or Westfield shopping centre in the capital.
Ahmed-Khan and Rehman were obsessed with the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005, and repeatedly watched the suicide video of Shehzad Tanweer, one of the four bombers who killed 52 people.
The couple met at secondary school and remained lovers despite the disapproval of her family, who tried to keep them apart as AhmedKhan entered Rehman’s world of cannabis and cocaine abuse.
The jury heard that despite being brought up in a moderate Pakistani Muslim family, Ahmed-Khan began studying extremist texts.
Passages in the Koran used by IS to justify their outrages were highlighted in a copy in her bedroom.
Mr Justice Baker said the couple probably began to idolise IS partly because of ‘disaffection’ with their families and community.
He warned that they may never be released from prison unless they renounce their militant beliefs, and the parole board considers they are no longer dangerous.
Ahmed-Khan, of Earley, Berkshire, and Rehman, of Reading, were convicted of preparing terrorist acts. Rehman also received 12 years, to run concurrently with his 27-year term, for possessing bombmaking chemicals and equipment.
‘Multiple injuries and fatalities’ ‘Theological justification’