London: Britains youngest female to be convicted for planning acts of terror was sentenced to life imprisonment. The BBC reported on Friday night (3rd August), that Safaa Boular will serve 13 years in prison. Her sister, Rizlaine Boular, and her mother also received jail sentences for plotting a terror attack. Safaa Boular's mother was born in Morocco. Gulf News reported that the three women formed an "all-female cell linked to Daesh." The IS group plotted to bomb the British Museum and the Palace of Westminster.
Safaa Boular found guilty of plotting two acts of terror
The BBC reported that Boular was convicted on two charges of planning to carry out terror attacks. The first incident related to a suicide attack in Syria and the second one was for the museum plot. Although she appeared in court for her sentencing wearing everyday western clothing, the judge didn't believe she had suddenly become de-radicalised.
Boular first came to the attention of the police in 2016, when she was stopped at the airport after she returned from a visit to Morrocco. She openly admitted she wanted to travel to Syria to marry British Isil recruiter, Naweed Hussain. However, there was no proof of crime at the time and she was allowed to go back to her home in Vauxhall, south London, but without her passport, according to the Telegraph.
The Isil, Naweed Hussain links to her terror plot
The seizure also included her phone, which revealed videos of females wearing suicide belts. The Gulf noted that her links to Naweed Hussain came to the fore in 2016 and that they discussed carrying out a suicide bombing after marriage. Frustrated because she could not join him in Syria, the three women decided to carry out an attack on British soil instead.
The plot was taken a step further and involved a new phone arriving in a chocolate box, secret messages and even an elaborate code involving the "Mad Hatters Tea Party." The trio discussed grenades, calling them "pineapples." Unfortunately for the radicalized teen and her family, she discussed the plot online with her "contacts" who turned out to be undercover agents.
Terror plot continued from inside the jail
Even though Safaa Boular's arrest in early April last year came ahead of that of her sibling and parent, the code continued and her sister and mother carried on with the plan without her. They went off an bought some knives and made other preparations. But they were raided and arrested as police believed the attack was about to happen. Safaa's sister 22-year-old Rizlaine, was shot and injured during the arrest. She received a nine-year prison sentence. Her mother was sentenced to six years in prison. Her 'boyfriend,' Naweed Hussain, died in a drone attack.
For Safaa Boular, her young life is over. By the time she gets out of prison, she will be 31-years, old.
She has lost the man she wanted to 'marry,' her family life, and the freedom that the western world offers young women. But it's not likely there will much sympathy for her, as she planned to take the lives of people indiscriminately, and randomly. In sentencing the youngest female terrorist in Britain, the judge said of Safaa Boular, "however much she may have been influenced and drawn into her extremism, it appeared she knew what she was doing and acted with open eyes."
