Shamima Begum is set to find out if she has won an appeal against the removal of her British citizenship.
While still a schoolgirlin east London shetravelled to Syria in 2015 to join Islamic State at the age of 15, before her citizenship was revoked on national security grounds shortly after she was found in a refugee camp in 2019.
After a series of legal battles, Ms Begum, now 24, lost her latest challenge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February last year – but took her case to the Court of Appeal in October.
Ms Begum, who remains in a refugee camp in northern Syria, was represented by Samantha Knights KC, who argued the government had failed to consider legal duties owed to a potential victim of trafficking.
However, Sir James Eadie KC, for the Home Office, said the “key feature” of Ms Begum’s case is national security.
The ruling in Ms Begum’s Court of Appeal case is due to be handed down at a short hearing at 10am on Friday.
Image: Shamima Begum. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Timeline: From Syria to court battles
From departing Gatwick Airport, to awaiting the outcome of various court cases from northern Syria – here’s a breakdown of how Shamima Begum got here.
February 2015
Shamima Begum dropped out of Bethnal Green Academy with friends Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana, having been missing since December 2014.
On 17 February, they all travelled from Gatwick Airport to Istanbul in Turkey and, once in Syria, Ms Begum married a Dutch IS fighter, Yago Riedijk, and had three children with him – who all died.
Ms Begum was said to be an “enforcer” who recruited other women to the caliphate.
2016
Both Ms Abase and Ms Sultana are reported to have died, but the whereabouts and actions of Ms Begum remained unknown until she resurfaced three years later.
February 2019
That’s when a journalist from The Times found her nine months pregnant at al Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria, having fled eastern Syria, where there was fierce fighting in a last stand for IS.
Sky News interviewed her, and she revealed she had just given birth – and was said to be “unrepentant” about joining IS.
In the same month, Sajid Javid, who was home secretary at the time, stripped Ms Begum of her British citizenship – this decision was controversial, as it meant it could have left her stateless.
April 2019
Ms Begum was granted legal aid by the UK Ministry of Justice to appeal Mr Javid’s decision.
February 2020
In a preliminary ruling, the SIAC ruled the decision to deprive Ms Begum of her British citizenship was lawful, adding Ms Begum was “a citizen of Bangladesh by descent” at the time of the decision.
They also found she could not “play any meaningful part in her appeal and that, to that extent, the appeal will not be fair and effective”.
July 2020
Ms Begum therefore turned to the Court of Appeal in a bid to return to the UK for the main challenge of her appeal to the SIAC.
She was given permission by the court to return to the UK and contest the government’s decision to rescind her citizenship – but the Home Office appealed this decision at the Supreme Court.
February 2021
The UK’s highest court then said Ms Begum should not be granted leave to enter the UK to pursue her appeal. She has since been in custody in northern Syria.
November 2021
In November, Sky News met Begum again. She said she didn’t hate the UK when she left, only her own life, and reaffirmed her keenness to return.
November 2022
Ms Begum once again attempts to win the right to travel back to the UK in a five-day trial at the SIAC.
During the hearing, her lawyers said the Home Office has a duty to investigate whether she was a victim of trafficking before stripping her of her British citizenship.
She was “persuaded, influenced and affected with her friends by a determined and effective ISIS propaganda machine”, they argued, but the Home Office stood by its decision to bar her.
February 2023
The SIAC dismissed that appeal on all grounds, ruling Ms Begum will not be allowed to return to the UK and therefore will not able to win back her British passport.
October 2023
Her case went to the Court of Appeal eight months later, where three senior judges were told the Home Office failed to consider legal duties owed to Ms Begum as a potential victim of trafficking.
February 2024
Ms Begum’s latest result is due, with her legal battle unlikely to end here either way.
What are the arguments for and against her return?
Announcing the SIAC decision last February, Mr Justice Jay said “the real merits of Ms Begum’s case” involved her arguments that she had been the victim of trafficking.
The tribunal found there was a “credible suspicion” Ms Begum was “recruited, transferred and then harboured for the purpose of sexual exploitation”.
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Ms Knights and Dan Squires KC argued at the Court of Appeal that the UK has failed to have a “full and effective” investigation into how Ms Begum was trafficked.
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‘I didn’t hate Britain, I hated my life’ – Begum
However, the SIAC had also found that Mr Javid was not required to formally consider whether Ms Begum was, or might have been, trafficked when deciding to strip her British citizenship.
Sir James said: “The fact that someone is radicalised, and may have been manipulated, is not inconsistent with the assessment that they pose a national security risk.
“Ms Begum contends that national security should not be a ‘trump’ card.
“But the public should not be exposed to risks to national security because events and circumstances have conspired to give rise to that risk.”
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Ms Begum, described previously as a straight-A student, arrived in the city of Raqqa in Syria and married a Dutchman and Muslim convert named Yago Riedijk 10 days later.
They had three children – a one-year-old girl, a three-month-old boy and a newborn son – who all died from malnourishment or disease.
Image: CCTV of Kadiza Sultana, left, Shamima Begum, centre and and Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport. Pic: Met Police
Ms Begum left Raqqa with her husband in January 2017, but they were eventually split up, as she claimed he was arrested for spying and tortured.
She was eventually found nine months pregnant in a refugee camp in February 2019 by a Times journalist.
Ms Begum told the reporter it “didn’t faze me at all” when she saw her first “severed head” and would “do anything required just to be able to come home”.
But she added she did not regret travelling to IS-controlled Syria, saying she had a “good time”.
By 2021, she had drastically changed her appearance – wearing a Nike baseball cap, a grey vest, a Casio watch and having her fingernails painted pink when she appeared on TV screens.
Ms Begum said there was “no evidence” she was a key player in preparing terrorist acts and was prepared to prove her innocence in court.
“The reason I came to Syria was not for violent reasons,” she told Good Morning Britain in 2021.
“At the time I did not know it was a death cult, I thought it was an Islamic community I was joining,” she added.
CCTV and police bodycam footage allegedly showing three police officers being assaulted at Manchester Airport has been played to jurors.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, are said to have struck out after police were called to the airport on 23 July last year, following Amaaz allegedly headbutting a customer at a Starbucks in Terminal 2.
Minutes later, three police officers approached the defendants at the paystation in the terminal’s car park.
A jury at Liverpool Crown Court today watched CCTV footage from opposite angles, which captured what the prosecution says was a “high level of violence” being used by the siblings.
The prosecution says Amaaz resisted as officers tried to move him to arrest him, and Amaad then intervened.
Junior counsel Adam Birkby suggested Amaaz threw 10 punches, including one to the face of PC Lydia Ward, which knocked her to the floor.
His brother Amaad is then said to have aimed six punches at firearms officer PC Zachary Marsden.
Amaaz also allegedly kicked PC Marsden and struck firearms officer PC Ellie Cook twice with his elbow.
He is said to have punched PC Marsden from behind and had a hold of him, before PC Cook discharged her Taser.
Image: Mohammed Fahir Amaaz (left) and Muhammed Amaad (right) arrive at the court with their lawyer. Pic: PA
The bodycam and CCTV footage, submitted as evidence by the prosecution, allegedly shows the officers’ arrival in the Terminal 2 car park and their attempts to arrest the siblings, as well as their exchanges with them.
PC Ward can be heard saying “Oi, you b*****d” in footage from her bodycam, the prosecution evidence appears to show.
She then appears to fall to the floor and screams.
PC Cook, who is pointing her Taser at one of the defendants, then allegedly says: “Stay on the floor, stay on the floor whatever you do.”
“Get back, get back,” PC Ward appears to say.
The bodycam footage, shown to the jury by the prosecution, shows PC Marsden, who is also pointing his Taser, appear to approach the defendant who is lying on the ground and kick out at him.
Mr Birkby said: “Mr Amaaz, while prone, lifts his head towards the officers. PC Marsden kicks Mr Amaaz around the head area.
“PC Marsden stamps his foot towards the crown of Mr Amaaz’s head area but doesn’t appear to connect with Mr Amaaz.”
Amaaz denies three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to the three police officers and one count of assault to Abdulkareem Ismaeil, the customer at Starbucks.
Amaad denies one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to PC Marsden.
A paramedic who secretly gave a pregnant woman an abortion drug during sex has been jailed for more than 10 years.
Stephen Doohan, 33, was married when he met the woman on holiday in Spain in 2021 and began a long-distance relationship.
The High Court in Glasgow heard how the victim travelled to Edinburgh in March 2023 to visit Doohan after learning she was pregnant.
During consensual sex, Doohan twice secretly administered the tablets which led to the woman suffering a miscarriage.
In May, Doohan pleaded guilty to sexual assault and causing the woman to have an abortion. He returned to the dock on Monday where he was jailed for 10 years and six months.
Lord Colbeck said Doohan caused “long-term psychological injury” to his victim.
The judge said: “You put her through considerable pain over a number of days and left her facing a lifetime of pain and loss.”
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The court heard how the woman found tablets hidden under the mattress after she became suspicious over Doohan’s behaviour in bed.
Lord Colbeck said: “The complainer then carried out an internet search for abortion tablets and confronted you over your actions.”
After the woman fell ill, Doohan convinced her to lie to medics at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh amid fears he would be arrested if she told the truth.
The victim later attended another hospital with her sister and was told she was having a miscarriage.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said Doohan sent the woman gifts including perfume, socks, facial cleansing oil, money to get her hair done and bought tickets for them to attend a football match.
The woman complained to the Scottish Ambulance Service in May 2023, sparking an investigation.
The court heard that on 14 March 2023, the day the woman told Doohan she was pregnant, the paramedic used a work intranet to search for abortion drugs.
Lord Colbeck said: “You planned out what you did to your victim using resources available to you as a paramedic.”
In addition to his prison sentence, Doohan was also added to the sex offenders’ register and banned from contacting his victim.
Fiona Kirkby, procurator fiscal for high court sexual offences, said: “Stephen Doohan’s calculated and heinous actions caused the loss of the victim’s pregnancy, robbing her of plans she had for the future.
“He has now been held accountable for this fundamental breach of trust.
“While offences like this are thankfully rare, I hope this prosecution sends a clear message to all those who seek to inflict sexual harm towards women.
“Our thoughts remain with the victim, who must be commended for reporting her experience and seeking justice.
“We recognise that reporting sexual offending can be difficult but would urge anyone affected to come forward and seek support when they feel ready to do so.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service branded it an “appalling case”.
A spokesperson added: “We recognise the courage it must have taken for the victim to come forward and speak out.
“As soon as we learned of these very serious allegations and charges, we immediately took action, providing ongoing support to her whilst liaising with Police Scotland throughout the investigation.
“We know nothing will change what has happened to the victim and all we can hope is this sentence provides some comfort to them.”
UK farmers have “nothing more to give” as they fear the government will use agriculture to further reduce US tariffs in a trade deal with the White House.
The UK is trying to reduce steel tariffs to zero, from a current reduced rate of 25%, but Downing Street refused to confirm if it was confident ahead of Donald Trump’s deadline of 9 July.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), said UK agriculture had already been used to reduce Trump-imposed tariffs on cars but any other concessions would have serious repercussions for farmers, food security and the UK’s high animal welfare standards.
He told Sky News: “It just feels like we, as the agricultural sector, had to shoulder the responsibility to reduce the tariffs on cars from 25%.
“We can’t do it anymore, we have nothing more to give.
“It’s clear the steel quotas and tariffs aren’t sorted yet, so we just want to be very clear with the government: if they’re sitting around the negotiating table – which we understand they are – they can’t expect agriculture to give any more.”
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Image: Tom Bradshaw, the head of the NFU, said farmers cannot give any more
‘Massively undermine our standards’
Since 30 June, the US has been able to import 13,000 tonnes of hormone-free British beef without tariffs under a deal made earlier this year, which farmers feel was to reduce the car import levy Mr Trump imposed.
The UK was also given tariff-free access to 1.4bn litres of US ethanol, which farmers say will put the UK’s bioethanol and associated sectors under pressure.
Allowing lower US food standards would “massively undermine our standards” and would mean fewer sales to the European Union where food standards are also high, Mr Bradshaw said.
It would leave British farmers competing on a playing field that is “anything but fair”, he said, because US food can be produced – and sold – much cheaper due to low welfare which could see a big reduction in investment in UK farms, food security and the environment.
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‘The US will push hard for more access’
He said the US narrative has always suggested they want access to British agriculture products “as a start and they’ll negotiate for more”.
“The narrative from the White House on 8 May, when a US-UK trade deal was announced, was all about further access to our agriculture products – it was very different to what our government was saying,” he added.
“So far, the UK has stood firm and upheld our higher welfare standards, but the US will push very hard to have further access.
“No country in the world has proved they can reduce the 10% tariffs further.”
Image: US poultry welfare is lower than the UK, with much more intensive farming that means the meat has to be washed with antimicrobials. Pic: AP
US ‘will target poultry and pork’
The Essex farmer said he expects the US to push “very hard” to get the UK to lower its standards on poultry and pork, specifically.
US poultry is often washed with antimicrobials, including chlorine, in an attempt to wash off high levels of bacteria caused by poor hygiene, antibiotic use and low animal welfare conditions not allowed in UK farming.
US pig rearing methods are also quite different, with intensive farming and the use of feed additive ractopamine legal, with both banned in the UK.
A government spokesperson told Sky News: “We regularly speak to businesses across the UK to understand the impact of tariffs and will only ever act in the national interest.
“Our Plan for Change has delivered a deal which will open up exclusive access for UK beef farmers to the US market for the first time ever and all agricultural imports coming to the UK will have to meet our high SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) standards.”