A teenage girl is alleged to have married an Islamic State fighter in Syria via Skype and became so indoctrinated that she tried to get a gun and grenade to stage a terrorist attack against Britain. The girl, who cannot be named because of her age, appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday charged with the alleged plot.
She is believed to be from a Moroccan background and was aged 16 when she met the alleged Isis terrorist, who originally comes from Coventry, online. He is now believed to be dead, killed in a drone strike in April.
The teenager, from London, is accused of receiving instructions on how to use the weapons and asking for help in carrying out the plot. The case is said to have involved explicit foreign direction, and the plotting is alleged to have happened between 1 December 2016 and 12 April 2017.
The accused was aged just 16 when she “married” the Isis fighter via Skype, in an online ceremony. There is considerable doubt that it would be considered valid under either Islamic or British laws. The man is understood to have used the internet and social media including Skype, an online voice and video communications programme.
During Wednesday’s short court hearing, her lawyer, Vajahat Sharif, said that the girl would plead not guilty. In court, the teenager, wearing a Nike tracksuit and with her long black hair tied in a ponytail, spoke only to confirm her name and age.
Deputy senior district judge Tan Ikram remanded her in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 11 August. She will also appear there on the same date in relation to another terror offence for which she had previously been charged.
In a statement the Metropolitan police said the teenager had been charged with having “the intention of committing acts of terrorism engaged in conduct in preparation for giving effect the that intention”.
The elements of the offence, the Met said, were: “i. Communicating with a Daesh [Isis] fighter in Syria and arranging to receive weapons in order to conduct an attack in the UK; ii. Receiving instructions on how train and use weapons; iii. Reaching out to another to receive assistance in completing plan.”
Last week, Met commissioner Cressida Dick said: “Six attack planning plots were thwarted in the last four months alone, and we can expect that figure to rise.”
Britain’s top police officer added: “The bulk of this domestic threat seems to be from those who are inspired by overseas networks, though there have undoubtedly been some who have been more directly enabled by them also, and we should not assume that attempts by senior leaderships of overseas groups to direct more or less sophisticated UK attacks have gone away.”
The terrorist threat level from Islamist inspired terrorism in Britain remains at severe, meaning that an attack is considered highly likely. Three such attacks have claimed lives in Britain since 22 March.