Shamima Begum is about to find out if she’s allowed back into the UK – how did she get to this point?
Shamima Begum – who left home in east London at the age of 15 to join Islamic State in Syria – will find out today if she is allowed back to the UK.
Back in 2015, Begum was pictured leaving Bethnal Green with two other girls to make the journey to Turkey and then onto Syria, where she joined the caliphate.
Her British citizenship was revoked in 2019 by then home secretary Sajid Javid, with the Home Office saying last year it stood by its decision.
Sir James Eadie KC told the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC): “You can be trafficked in the most ghastly, unacceptable way, exposed in the most unacceptable way, desensitised in the most unacceptable way and yet, unfortunately … still be a security threat.
The SIAC will hand down its written judgment over whether she should win back her British citizenship and return to the UK after a lengthy period gathering evidence and testimony from the government and Begum’s family.
But how did Shamima Begum get to this point, and why is her potential return to the UK proving so controversial?
A photo of Begum from before she ran to join IS
2015
Begum dropped out of school at the Bethnal Green Academy with friends Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana, and on 17 February, travelled from Gatwick Airport to Istanbul in Turkey.
It is thought they were radicalised by someone called Aqsa Mahmood, reported to be the first woman to flee the UK to join Islamic State in Syria two years earlier.
It is said the girls stole family jewellery to pay for their flights.
Once in Syria, Begum married a Dutch fighter for Islamic State, Yago Riedijk, and had three children with him – all of whom later died.
Begum was said to be an “enforcer” who recruited other women to the caliphate.
The Bethnal Green Trio: Kadiza Sultana, Shamima Begum, and Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport
2016
It was reported both Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana were both said to be dead.
Sultana had married an IS fighter with Somalian heritage and was said to have been killed in a Russian attack. Her family told ITV at the time they believed she’d been planning an escape.
Abase was married to an Australian IS fighter and was reportedly killed in coalition strikes – but this has never been confirmed.
2019
The whereabouts or actions of Begum fall quiet between 2016 and 2019, and it was not until a journalist from The Times finds her at a displacement camp that she is seen or heard from.
Begum had fled the village of Baghuz, where there was fierce fighting taking place in a last stand for Islamic State.
When Sky News interviewed her, she had just given birth, and was said to be “unrepentant” about joining IS, but did want to return to the UK.
In February, Sajid Javid, who was the then home secretary, stripped Begum of her British citizenship – though this decision was controversial, as it meant it could have potentially left her stateless, which is in contravention to the United Nations.
It is understood that she also holds Bangladeshi citizenship through her father, but the country made it clear if she went there, she would face the death penalty.
By April, Begum was granted legal aid by the Ministry of Justice to appeal the decision.
Shamima Begum being interviewed by Sky News in 2019
2020
Begum is given permission by the Court of Appeal to return to the UK and contest the government’s decision to rescind her British citizenship – but it was not clear at the time how she would do this.
2021
In November, Sky News met with Begum again, where she said she did not hate the UK when she left, only her own life, and reaffirmed her keenness to come back to the UK. She also described living under IS rule as “hell, hell on Earth”, and that she had no part in any of the atrocities carried out by the terrorist group.
Days later, the Supreme Court blocked Begum’s appeal to return home after the government argued that she “would create significant national security risks” and expose the public to “an increased risk of terrorism”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
November 2021: ‘I didn’t hate Britain, I hated my life’ – Begum
2022
Begum attempts again to win the right to travel back to the UK in a five-day trial with the SIAC.
The Home Office, once again, stood by its decision to bar her from entering the UK, while her parents argued that stopping her from coming home contravenes their right to a family life.
Prosecutors are considering whether to bring further criminal charges against Lucy Letby over the deaths of babies at two hospitals where she worked
The Crown Prosecution Service said it had received “a full file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital”.
“We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought,” it added.
“As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.”
Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital and is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.
Letby worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital
She is understood to have carried out two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student, between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.
Police said in December that Letby was interviewed in prison as part of an investigation into more baby deaths and non-fatal collapses.
A Cheshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Cheshire Constabulary has submitted a full file of evidence to the CPS for charging advice regarding the ongoing investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital as part of Operation Hummingbird.”
Detectives previously said the investigation was looking into the full period of time that Letby worked as a nurse, covering the period from 2012 to 2016 and including a review of 4,000 admissions of babies.
Letby’s lawyer Mark McDonald said: “The evidence of the innocence of Lucy Letby is overwhelming,” adding: “We will cross every bridge when we get to it but if Lucy is charged I know we have a whole army of internationally renowned medical experts who will totally undermine the prosecution’s unfounded allegations.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Three managers at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that three managers at the Countess of Chester hospital had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in a separate investigation.
Read more from Sky News:
‘Catastrophic failure’ that led to Heathrow power outage revealed
Man charged with murder of 93-year-old woman in Cornwall
Police said the suspects, who occupied senior positions at the hospital between 2015 and 2016, have all been bailed pending further inquiries.
There is also an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital, which began in October 2023.
A public inquiry has also been examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.
In May, it was announced the inquiry’s final report into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.
Earlier this year, Letby’s lawyers called for the suspension of the inquiry, claiming there was “overwhelming and compelling evidence” that her convictions were unsafe.
In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.
Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.
A power outage that shut Heathrow Airport earlier this year, causing travel chaos for more than 270,000 passengers, was caused by a “catastrophic failure” of equipment in a nearby substation, according to a new report.
Experts say the fire at the North Hyde Substation, which supplies electricity to Heathrow, started following the failure of a high-voltage electrical insulator known as a bushing, before spreading.
The failure was “most likely” caused by moisture entering the equipment, according to the report.
Two chances were also missed that could have prevented the failure, experts found, the first in 2018 when a higher-than-expected level of moisture was found in oil samples.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Moment Heathrow substation ignites
Such a reading meant “an imminent fault and that the bushing should be replaced”, according to guidance by the National Grid Electricity Transmission.
However, the report by National Energy System Operator (NESO) said the appropriate responses to such a serious issue were “not actioned”, including in 2022 when basic maintenance was postponed.
“The issue therefore went unaddressed,” the report added.
The design and configuration of the airport’s internal power network meant the loss of just one of its three supply points would “result in the loss of power to operationally critical systems, leading to a suspension of operations for a significant period”, the report added.
Heathrow – which is Europe’s biggest airport – closed for around 16 hours on 21 March following the fire, before reopening at about 6pm.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Heathrow bosses were ‘warned about substation’
Around 1,300 flights were cancelled and more than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted.
Tens of millions of pounds were lost, thousands of passengers were stranded, and questions were raised about the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure.
More than 71,000 domestic and commercial customers lost power as a result of the fire and the resulting power outage, the report said.
NEOS chief executive, Fintan Slye, said there “wasn’t the control within their [National Grid’s] asset management systems that identified that this [elevated moisture levels] got missed.
“They identified a fault, [but] for some reason the transformer didn’t immediately get pulled out of service and get repaired.
“There was no control within the system that looked back and said ‘oh, hang on a second, you forgot to do this thing over here’.”
Sky’s science and technology editor, Tom Clarke, pointed to the age of the substation’s equipment, saying “some of these things are getting really very old now, coming to the end of their natural lives, and this is an illustration of what can happen if they are not really well maintained”.
The report also highlights a lack of joined-up thinking, he said, as “grid operators don’t know who’s critical national infrastructure on the network, and they don’t have priority”.
Responding to the report’s findings, a Heathrow spokesperson said: “A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid’s failure to maintain its infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.
“We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn’t repeated.
“Our own Review, led by former Cabinet Minister Ruth Kelly, identified key areas for improvement and work is already underway to implement all 28 recommendations.”
In May, Ms Kelly’s investigation revealed that the airport’s chief executive couldn’t be contacted as the crisis unfolded because his phone was on silent.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who commissioned the NESO report, called it “deeply concerning”, because “known risks were not addressed by the National Grid Electricity Transmission”.
Read more on Sky News:
Starmer ‘faced down his MPs and lost’
Partial verdict in Diddy trial
Concern for player safety at Euros
Mr Miliband said energy regulator Ofgem, which opened an investigation on Wednesday after the report was published, is investigating “possible licence breaches relating to the development and maintenance of its electricity system at North Hyde.
“There are wider lessons to be learned from this incident. My department, working across government, will urgently consider the findings and recommendations set out by NESO and publish a response to the report in due course.”
The Metropolitan Police previously confirmed on 25 March that officers had “found no evidence to suggest that the incident was suspicious in nature”.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike