This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/7130495.stm

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
'Lyrical Terrorist' is sentenced Terror manuals woman avoids jail
(10 minutes later)
A woman who called herself a "Lyrical Terrorist" has been given a nine-month suspended jail sentence.A woman who called herself a "Lyrical Terrorist" has been given a nine-month suspended jail sentence.
Samina Malik, 23, from Southall, west London, had been found guilty at the Old Bailey of owning terrorist manuals. Samina Malik, 23, from Southall, west London, had worked at a branch of WH Smith at Heathrow Airport.
She is the first woman to be convicted under the Terrorism Act 2000 and had worked at Heathrow Airport's WH Smith. She was found guilty at the Old Bailey of owning terrorist pamphlets, including The Al-Qaeda Manual.
The jury heard Malik had written extremist poems praising Osama Bin Laden, supporting martyrdom and discussing beheading. The jury was told a "library" of extremist Islamist literature was found in her bedroom and Malik had written poems praising Osama Bin Laden.
Her sentence is suspended for 18 months.
She had earlier been found not guilty of the more serious charge, under Section 57 of the Act, of possessing an article for a terrorist purpose. She denied the charges.
Adopted nickname
Malik had posted her poems on websites under the screen name the Lyrical Terrorist, prosecutors said.
She said the poems were "meaningless", but prosecutor Jonathan Sharp said: "These communications strongly indicate Samina Malik was deeply involved with terrorist-related groups."
Malik told the jury she only adopted her "Lyrical Terrorist" nickname because she thought it was "cool" and insisted she was not a terrorist.
Muhammed Abdul Bari, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, told the Times he did not think the case should have reached court.
"Many young people download objectionable material from the internet, but it seems if you are a Muslim then this could lead to criminal charges, even if you have absolutely no intention to do harm to anyone else.
"Samina's so-called poetry was certainly offensive but I don't believe this case should really have been a criminal matter."