Miss Teen Great Britain Star Sent Jihadis Money by PayPal
A British beauty queen has been jailed for funding terrorism after she was found to have sent Islamic fighters money via PayPal.
Amaani Noor, 21, a Miss Teen Great Britain semi-finalist, was found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court on December 20. Her co-defendant, 28-year-old Victoria Webster, was also jailed after previously admitting similar charges.
During the trial, the court heard Noor donated a total of £34 ($44.22) to jihadist group The Merciful Hands via Paypal, knowing it was to be used for terrorist purposes.
Noor had also planned to travel to Syria to join up with her Islamist fighter husband who she married via a videolink, reported Sky News. She denied the charges, claiming the money was meant to be used to buy food for women and children in the war-torn country.
Prosecutors said Noor and Webster had both used then Telegram messaging app to discuss terrorism and also accessed torture and beheading videos online.
The jury was also shown emails written by Noor to her Jihadist husband, known as Hakim My Love.
"It's been my dream to marry a fighter for a long time and my dream to be a fighter myself even longer lol," she wrote.
Upon sentencing, Judge Andrew Menary QC rejected that she was as modest and naive as she presented herself, and said there was a "cunning" about her that she maintained throughout the proceedings.
"On the one hand you appear shy and retiring, but in the other you are a perfectly competent, articulate and bright young woman, perfectly capable of giving an account of yourself and expressing your then held ideology, Moor said, reported the Daily Mail.
"I don't think you are as demure as you pretend. Only time will tell whether you have learned from the mistakes you made."
Noor from Wavertree, Liverpool, has now been jailed for 18 months following her conviction of funding terrorism.
Webster was jailed for 17 months after pleading guilty to providing money for the purposes of terrorism and inviting another to provide money for terrorism.
In a statement, Detective Superintendent Will Chatterton of GMP's Counter Terrorism Unit said: "After her arrest, Noor tried to claim she thought the organization was a charity benefiting innocent victims of the civil war.
"But the organization's messaging made clear their intent to send weapons and equipment to terrorists fighting in Syria.
"The abhorrent footage and messages found upon both Noor's and Webster's phones clearly showed both to be sympathetic to terrorist organizations.
"While the amounts of money sent were relatively small; the intent of Noor and Webster was clear: To support and further the aims of terrorists fighting in Syria.
"I hope today's sentences send a clear message that we gather evidence and pursue prosecutions against anyone who seeks to engage with and support any form of terrorism."
