Attorney General to personally argue against ‘lenient’ sentence of IS promoter

The UK’s Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC, is to appear personally in the Court of Appeal to argue that a woman convicted of promoting so-called Islamic State (IS) should be imprisoned.

Farhana Ahmed, 40, was handed a suspended sentence last November after the judge received a letter from her eldest son explaining his distress over their separation.

Ms Ahmed has admitted to encouraging terrorist acts and disseminating documents after sharing propaganda on social media.

Judge Christopher Moss QC told her: “In your exceptional case the sooner you are returned to your children the better for all concerned.”

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has since confirmed that Mr Wright (pictured) will appear in court to argue that her sentence was unduly lenient.

This will be the first case to be heard since the extension of the Unduly Lenient Sentence regime to include more terror offences, including that of which Ms Ahmed was convicted.

In a statement, the AGO said: “Ms Ahmed encouraged UK terror attacks on a pro-IS Facebook group page. She also used the fake name Kay Adam to encourage terrorism on Facebook.

“Using the alias she praised the Paris terrorist attacks and posted tips on ‘how to carry out a stabbing’ as well as links to various terrorist publications with videos and images of IS fighters.”