Friends of teenager jailed for attempting to join banned Kurdish group appeal for her release

Representatives from the Kurdish community in North London have criticised a court for jailing a teenager for claiming she planned to join the Kurdish military organisation, the PKK, to fight the militant group Isis. They say sending Shilan Ozcelik to prison at the same time the British government is calling for bombing raids on Isis strongholds, is not just wrong but is hypocritical.

The 18 year-old ran away from home, leaving letters and a video for her distraught family telling them she wanted to be a guerrilla fighter and was joining the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s women’s militia, which is proscribed under UK terror laws.

Shilan Ozcelik, who's from Islington, was sentenced to 21 months in a youth offenders' institution. She was convicted at the Old Bailey of "engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts".

The teenager's legal team is waiting to hear if the request for an appeal hearing is to be allowed.