LONDON – Moroccan-origin Islamic State supporter behind the UK’s firstall-female terrorist attack plot has been sentenced to life imprisonmentwith a minimum term of 16 years behind bars. Rizlaine Boular’s Morocco-bornmother Mina Dich was handed six years and nine months, plus five years onextended licence or monitoring, after she admitted helping her 22-year-olddaughter in her sinister plans.
Khawla Barghouthi, a friend of Boular’s who admitted knowing about theplans to launch a knife attack in London’s political hub of Westminster,was sentenced to two years and four months in jail. After her sentence, the21-year-old faces deportation to Tunisia after a recorded conversationrevealed that Barghouthi did believe her friend intended to go ahead withthe violence and yet did nothing to put her off.Play Video53m
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Boular had planned to stab random members of the public around the Palaceof Westminster causing widespread panic, injury and death in April lastyear, the Old Bailey court in London was told last week. The mother-of-oneadopted the plot from her sister Safaa Boular, 18, who was in custody overan attempt to become a jihadi bride in Syria the year before. RizlaineBoular, who had earlier pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism,practised for the knife attack as her conversation was bugged by the UKsecurity services at her friend Barghouthi’s home, ‘Daily Mirror’ reported.
When armed police arrived to arrest them, Boular shouted at the officer whoshot her, thinking she had something in her hand. “I did not believe theperson I was with was actually going to go through with anything. When Iread the transcript I was horrified how it sounds. What I can say, at thetime it was extravagant talk and very stupid fooling around,” Barghouthitold the court in her defence. But passing the sentence Judge Mark Dennissaid he was convinced she knew Boular was serious and did nothing to alertauthorities or try and dissuade her from going ahead with her plans. Hesaid she “failed to disclose information about an imminent attack in whicha knife would be used to endanger the life of multiple individuals”.ADVERTISEMENT
“There is no reason, in my view, to doubt that Rizlaine Boular intended tocarry out her violent action, even at the cost of her own life,” he noted.Safaa Boular – believed to be Britain’s youngest female ISIS terror plotter– will be sentenced at a later date after she was found guilty of preparingterrorism in the UK and Syria.