ISIS Bride Enjoys Media Spotlight After Serving Less than Half Her Six-Year Sentence

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DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images
Nathaniel Charles

Jihadi bride Tareena Shakil, free after serving less than half of her short jail sentence, says she “regrets” joining the Islamic State.

32-year-old Birmingham resident Tareena Shakil was originally sentenced in 2016 to two years in prison for “posting messages that encouraged terrorism” and an additional four years for being a member of the Islamic State.

Shakil was released in 2018, serving less than half of her prison sentence as she had undergone a ‘deradicalisation’ programme. Had she served her full term in custody she would currently still be incarcerated.

Following her release three years ago, Shakil was initially banned from being within two miles of any airport and from certain roads in Birmingham, however her British passport has since been returned to her and she is no longer required to wear an electronic tag.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Shakil claimed she was “ashamed” of her actions and “lives with the consequences every day”.

Shakil claims that “she was taken advantage of” and groomed online, but has also previously admitted that she knew about ISIS atrocities before she travelled to Syria. She was 24 when she made the decision in 2014 to go to the former ISIS stronghold Raqqa in Syria with her one-year-old son.

The Daily Mail reports that Shakil had a normal middle-class upbringing, went clubbing, and listened to music group the Spice Girls. She was also a fan of British hit-TV show ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ or ‘TOWIE’, leading to her later nickname the “TOWIE Jihadi”.

However, once Shakil left home and attended university she began wearing a headscarf, told her parents she “wanted to be a good Muslim” and began taking an interest in the conflict in Syria.

The BBC is not the only mainstream media outlet which has taken it upon itself to shine a media spotlight on Shakil, and she has also starred in an hour-long ITV documentary, to be released last month, that details “her story”.

Speaking exclusively to Breitbart London, Northern Ireland veterans campaigner and ex-Grenadier Guardsman Roy Brinkley branded Shakil a “terrorist” and said she “should have never been allowed back into the UK”.

Mr Brinkley went on to say that Shakil and any other person who “betrayed our country” by joining the Islamic State should receive a “life” sentence in prison if they do return to Britain.

The Chairman of the Bow Group, Britain’s oldest conservative think-tank, Ben Harris-Quinney, told Breitbart London that while “it is easy to make light” of people who join groups like ISIS, “we cannot forget the atrocities” committed by these organisations.

Harris-Quinney asserted that “stupidity is not an excuse for terrorism”, and “whatever TV shows they watch and however they style their hair terrorists should be prevented from entering the United Kingdom, as in the case of Shamima Begum”.

Addressing Britain’s current policy for dealing with UK-born terrorists Harris-Quinney criticised the current government and questioned “why we have so many people allowed to live in our country who hate Britain and wish to kill British people”.

Harris-Quinney also agreed with Mr Brinkley that when the government is unable to deport terrorists then “much stronger sentences should be handed down to members of terrorist organisations who murder, maim and terrorise British citizens”.

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