Suspended jail term for terror wife

The wife of a convicted terrorist has received a 12-month suspended sentence at the Old Bailey for failing to provide information that might have helped in his arrest and prosecution.

Ayan Hadi, 31, of Acton, west London, had already admitted failing to alert the authorities when her husband Richard Dart, a white Muslim convert, had planned to fly to Pakistan for combat training which could then be followed by violent acts of terrorism.

She had pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to failing to provide information that she knew or believed might have helped secure the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of her husband for an act of terrorism.

In sentencing Mr Justice Sweeney, sitting at the Old Bailey, told Hadi that "justice could be tempered by mercy" particularly in cases involving someone who is vulnerable or in a relationship with a defendant. Hadi had been in an abusive first marriage, felt isolated and wanted a happy home life, the court was told.

She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years, a two-year supervision order plus a 10-year notification requirement where she will have to tell the authorities of her whereabouts.

Dart was jailed for six years in April with two co-conspirators Jahangir Alom and Imran Mahmood for engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terrorism.

The judge told Hadi that there had been "an element of choice" in her decision not to alert the authorities after Dart revealed his intentions to her in November 2011.

He also noted that having a first husband who was "clearly abusive" towards her had "coloured in part your relationship to the information" which Dart told her.

Dart also put her "in a difficult position" by making her "choose for your love for him" and balancing out her duty to tell the authorities.

The judge noted that Hadi was of good character and that neither she nor any member of her family had shown any Jihadist sympathies.