The couple who had plotted to carry out a terror attack on the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings have been given life imprisonment. The court heard how Sana Ahmed Khan (24), belonged to a middle-class, well reputed family and her plans to carry out an outrageous attacks inspired by Isil suicide bombings, has led to her parents' reputations to be tarnished.
Sana Ahmed Khan, is a graduate with an English degree from the University of Greenwich, London, and is the daughter of well respected professionals; her mother is a magistrate. Khan was raised to be “open, honest and tolerant”, however, she had turned to resent them.
It is alleged that Khan, along with her husband, Mohammed Rehman (25), who she married in a secret Islamic ceremony, sought out the Islamist justification for the barbarity she was about to carry out.
Judge Justice Baker, suggested that the couple, from Reading, had become extremists after becoming discontented from their families.
Rehman's family allegedly said that he turned to extremism to try and impress Khan, who was from a much affluent background.
Khan had written a letter of leniency to the judge, which read, “My mother, a judge herself, has lost her position, her child and the respect of friends and family. I emplore you to have mercy when considering my sentence.”
However, he plea was rejected and she was given a sentence of a minimum of 25 years in prison. Judge Baker said to her, “Although I do not consider that it is likely that you were initially attracted by the excitement which appeared to be offered by engagement with the actions of Islamic State, I am satisfied that it was you who became interested in the theological justification of its aims, and thereafter encouraged Mohammed Rehman to pursue its ideology. Once you gained that mindset, I am satisfied that you too determined to fulfil the Islamic State's call for jihad, by carrying out an act of terrorism within the United Kingdom.”
It has also been suggested that the duo have divorced and turned on each other during the trial.
Mohammed Rehman was sentenced to a minimum of 27 years. Justice Baker told him, “You had become a radicalised Islamist, committed to the ideology of Islamic State including the furtherance of those aims by committing an act of terrorism within the UK. The type of act which you envisaged not only encompassed the use of explosive substances which would be used to maximum effect so as to cause multiple injuries and fatalities, but specifically included a suicide bombing, an act which envisaged martyrdom.”
The judge also mentioned that the couple were a significant threat to the public, and they were warned that they will not be released unless they abdicate their Islamist ideologies.
It is said that the family of Rehman has disowned him, and they believe that the couple received the right verdict by the court.
This case of Khan is remarkably astonishing as one questions how could an educated, well-brought up woman turn to extremism while she was raised to be an open-minded and tolerant individual. No doubt, this may have certainly caused a lot of grief to both Rehman and Khan's family members, but also tarnishes the British-Asian community in the UK who have to suffer for the actions of such criminals.
