West Midlands Police has reissued a mugshot of a convicted Islamic State terrorist after she complained about not wearing a niqab in the original photograph.
Farishta Jami, 36, was found guilty of terrorism offences on Thursday for planning to fly to Afghanistan to join Isis.
The force initially released an image showing her full face and hair, but later published a second photograph showing only her eyes beneath a navy blue niqab.
The mother of four, who planned for her children to become martyrs for the terror group, was described in court as an “observant” Muslim.
Farishta Jami who has been found guilty of two counts of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorism
Counter Terrorism Police
Matthew Brook KC, Jami’s barrister, told Leicester Crown Court on Friday that she had experienced “considerable distress” because of the photograph showing her full face.
“Reports of the verdicts yesterday used an image of my client, released by the police, in which her head wasn’t covered,” Mr Brook said. “This has caused her some considerable distress and the police are going to release a different image. We would request that is used instead.”
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, presiding, said she could not issue an order to make the use of the second image compulsory. The judge left it to the press to decide which image to use.
The court heard Jami had saved £1,200 to fund flights to Afghanistan, where she planned to join the Islamic State in Khorasan (ISK). She shared extremist material on social media and joined multiple pro-Daesh channels.
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Leicester Crown Court PAOfficers told Leicester Crown Court she had researched weaponry and gathered information about the assembly and disassembly of an AK-47 rifle.
The prosecution revealed she had stored approximately 7,000 videos, with several showing children being used as suicide bombers.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb noted: “The online communications give every indication of a woman firmly committed to the cause and in possession of extremist propaganda, espousing radical views and intent on influencing others.”
Afghanistan-born Jami moved to Britain in 2008 to live with her husband in the North West. She later relocated to Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in 2023 after her marriage became violent, the court heard.
Farishta Jami, a 36-year-old mother from Stratford-upon-Avon,
Counter Terrorism Police
The former dinner lady was in court to be sentenced on two counts of preparing acts of terrorism between September 1, 2022, and January 10, 2024. The hearing was adjourned to allow the probation service to prepare a pre-sentence report.
The force released the second image showing Jami in a niqab, despite her having sat through the three-week trial wearing a hijab that showed her face.
She will be sentenced at a later date.