British mother found guilty of taking son to Syria to join Islamic State

A British mother found guilty of taking her young son to Syria to join so-called Islamic State and encouraging terrorism initially told police she had been kidnapped and taken to Syria but managed to escape.

In an interview with officers after she was arrested at Heathrow Airport after returning to the UK in February 2015, Tareena Shakil is seen giving an account of her alleged escape from in Syria.

She described being driven to Turkey before seizing an opportunity to escape. "I just ran, ran, ran", she said.

"I could see these ISIS fighters, I don't think they seen [sic] me, as no one tried to come for me or shoot at me", she added.

Tareena Shakil has been found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of taking her toddler son to Syria to join Islamic State.

Ms Shakil has become the first British woman to return from the self-declared caliphate to be convicted of the offence.

During a two-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, the 26-year-old had denied the charges, claiming she only travelled to Syria because of a wish to live under the rule of sharia law.

However, the jury did not believe her claims after seeing tweets, messages and photographs, including images of the black flag of IS and passages calling on people to "take up arms".

Shakil had also posted of her wish to become a "martyr" on social media.