Tareena Shakil, a 26-year-old British mother who took her son to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group, is beginning her prison term after a judge sentenced her to six years in prison upon concluding that she had willingly embraced the militant group and was prepared to let her son become an ISIS fighter.
In October of 2014, Shakil left her home in Birmingham, England, claiming she had booked a holiday. In turned out however, that she took her 14-month-son to Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terrorist group and lived with them for three months, according to Newsmax.
During her sentencing, presiding judge Melbourne Inman was highly critical of her actions, saying Shakil was fully aware of her actions and what they meant.
"What is clear from the evidence is that you had researched and were well aware of what assistance women could provide for ISIS," he said, according to The Wall Street Journal. "Your role would not be to fight, it would be to be a wife and mother - to produce the next generation of fighters."
However, Judge Inman was particularly critical of pictures showing Shakil's son with an AK47 while wearing a balaclava with an ISIS logo.
"The most abhorrent photographs were those taken of your son wearing a balaclava with an ISIS logo," he said, according to Sky News. "And specifically the photograph of your son, no more than a toddler, standing next to an AK47 under a title which translated from the Arabic means 'Father of the British Jihadi.'"
"You were well aware that the future to which you had subjected your son was very likely to be indoctrination and thereafter life as a terrorist fighter," he added.
Shakil, for her part, denied leaving the Europe to join ISIS. Instead, she argued throughout the court proceedings that she had been captured and was forced to pretend she was happy living with ISIS.
"You told lie after lie to the police and in court between February and November 2015," Judge Inman said. "Including that you were kidnapped, were not responsible for any tweets and any incriminating photographs were staged against your will. You pleaded not guilty and told more lies to the jury which they have understandably rejected."
By finding Shakil guilty, she became the first woman from the U.K. to return from ISIS' caliphate and be convicted of the offense, reported the BBC. Her six years in prison will consist of four years for joining ISIS and two years for encouraging acts of terror.
She will be eligible for parole after serving half her sentence.
