- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 13,694
- Points
- 113
Police released a mugshot of a woman convicted of terrorism offences wearing a niqab – after she complained an earlier custody image showed her without a head covering.
Jurors heard Farishta Jami, 36, had been preparing to travel to Afghanistan with her children, planning for them to become martyrs for Islamic State, when police raided her address in November 2023.
The single mother-of-four had pledged allegiance to Islamic State and displayed a ‘clear interest in the use of children in warfare’ - including videos of children carrying out executions, the court was told.
This afternoon, West Midlands Police issued a fresh custody image with just Farishta Jami’s eyes visible beneath a full head covering after defence barrister Matthew Brook KC told the judge his client had been upset to see the earlier mugshot.
In that image, issued following ‘observant’ Muslim Jami’s conviction on Thursday, she was seen with her long dark hair uncovered and tied back.
The lawyer told Leicester Crown Court: ‘Reports of the verdicts yesterday used an image of my client, released by the police, in which her head wasn’t covered.
'This has caused her some considerable distress and the police are going to release a different image. We would request that is used instead.’
The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said she could not make an order and left it to the press to decide which image to use.
West Midlands Police issued a fresh custody image with just Farishta Jami’s (pictured) eyes visible beneath a full head covering
Jami, 36, pledged allegiance to Islamic State and had a 'clear interest in the use of children in warfare'
Jami had been due to be sentenced today after she was convicted 24 hours earlier on two counts of preparing acts of terrorism between September 1 2022 and January 10 2024.
But the sentencing hearing was adjourned in order for a pre-sentence report from the probation service to be prepared about Jami.
Mrs Justice Chubb said: ‘In such a serious case as this it is vital that the sentence is justified on cogent material before the court.
‘The online communications give every indication of a woman firmly committed to the cause and in possession of extremist propaganda, espousing radical views and intent on influencing others. However, I have no evidence of her current mindset.’
West Midlands Police issued the new custody image around an hour later, even though Jami had worn only a headscarf during the three-week trial, rather than the full niqab she is now pictured in.
The court heard the former school dinner lady became an administrator on various channels on the encrypted Telegram app which spread IS propaganda as she sought to ‘indoctrinate and sacrifice her children for the cause.’
Michelle Heeley KC, prosecuting, said Jami made plans to take her family to Afghanistan to fight for Islamic State in Khorasan (ISK) - currently the terrorist group's most active branch.
Police seized a large number of phones and 30 SIM cards hidden in a plastic bag in a bedroom at her home in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Jurors were told she would swap between different SIM cards and different handsets to keep her online activity secret.
Farishta Jami's home in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, where she moved in 2023
Jami was born in Afghanistan and moved to Britain in 2008, to live with her husband who already lived in a city in the North West, the court heard. She fell pregnant quickly and moved south in 2023, after the marriage turned violent.
She will now be sentenced on a date to be fixed.
West Midlands Police said it was ‘common practice’ to take more than one custody image of a suspect if that person had ‘some kind of accessory’ on their face, such as glasses.
In 2013, Lancashire Police took the opposite course of action when the force opted to release a mugshot of Shaheda Lorgat, then 49, without her face covering after she had appeared in court wearing a niqab.
Lorgat had been charged with stealing £21,000 from a college where she worked, but the public were unable to see her face when she arrived at Preston Crown Court to face justice over the thefts.
She received a one-year jail sentence and after the hearing Lancashire Police agreed to issue Lorgat's mugshot without her face covering and issued a statement saying frauds like the crimes she committed would ‘not be tolerated’.
Jurors heard Farishta Jami, 36, had been preparing to travel to Afghanistan with her children, planning for them to become martyrs for Islamic State, when police raided her address in November 2023.
The single mother-of-four had pledged allegiance to Islamic State and displayed a ‘clear interest in the use of children in warfare’ - including videos of children carrying out executions, the court was told.
This afternoon, West Midlands Police issued a fresh custody image with just Farishta Jami’s eyes visible beneath a full head covering after defence barrister Matthew Brook KC told the judge his client had been upset to see the earlier mugshot.
In that image, issued following ‘observant’ Muslim Jami’s conviction on Thursday, she was seen with her long dark hair uncovered and tied back.
The lawyer told Leicester Crown Court: ‘Reports of the verdicts yesterday used an image of my client, released by the police, in which her head wasn’t covered.
'This has caused her some considerable distress and the police are going to release a different image. We would request that is used instead.’
The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said she could not make an order and left it to the press to decide which image to use.
West Midlands Police issued a fresh custody image with just Farishta Jami’s (pictured) eyes visible beneath a full head covering
Jami, 36, pledged allegiance to Islamic State and had a 'clear interest in the use of children in warfare'
Jami had been due to be sentenced today after she was convicted 24 hours earlier on two counts of preparing acts of terrorism between September 1 2022 and January 10 2024.
But the sentencing hearing was adjourned in order for a pre-sentence report from the probation service to be prepared about Jami.
Mrs Justice Chubb said: ‘In such a serious case as this it is vital that the sentence is justified on cogent material before the court.
‘The online communications give every indication of a woman firmly committed to the cause and in possession of extremist propaganda, espousing radical views and intent on influencing others. However, I have no evidence of her current mindset.’
West Midlands Police issued the new custody image around an hour later, even though Jami had worn only a headscarf during the three-week trial, rather than the full niqab she is now pictured in.
The court heard the former school dinner lady became an administrator on various channels on the encrypted Telegram app which spread IS propaganda as she sought to ‘indoctrinate and sacrifice her children for the cause.’
Michelle Heeley KC, prosecuting, said Jami made plans to take her family to Afghanistan to fight for Islamic State in Khorasan (ISK) - currently the terrorist group's most active branch.
Police seized a large number of phones and 30 SIM cards hidden in a plastic bag in a bedroom at her home in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Jurors were told she would swap between different SIM cards and different handsets to keep her online activity secret.
Farishta Jami's home in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, where she moved in 2023
Jami was born in Afghanistan and moved to Britain in 2008, to live with her husband who already lived in a city in the North West, the court heard. She fell pregnant quickly and moved south in 2023, after the marriage turned violent.
She will now be sentenced on a date to be fixed.
West Midlands Police said it was ‘common practice’ to take more than one custody image of a suspect if that person had ‘some kind of accessory’ on their face, such as glasses.
In 2013, Lancashire Police took the opposite course of action when the force opted to release a mugshot of Shaheda Lorgat, then 49, without her face covering after she had appeared in court wearing a niqab.
Lorgat had been charged with stealing £21,000 from a college where she worked, but the public were unable to see her face when she arrived at Preston Crown Court to face justice over the thefts.
She received a one-year jail sentence and after the hearing Lancashire Police agreed to issue Lorgat's mugshot without her face covering and issued a statement saying frauds like the crimes she committed would ‘not be tolerated’.
