UK jails first Briton for attempting to join ISIS in Syria

A UK court handed the first indictment against a Briton for travelling to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group, the Daily Mail reported.

Mashudur Choudhury, 31, received a four-year sentence after he was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism against the UK.

“Whatever the motivation, anybody who prepares to fight for a political or ideological cause in another country must be in no doubt that they commit a serious offence,” Judge Paul Dodgson, who sentenced Choudhury said.

The convicted father of two reportedly returned to the UK after 18 days with the militant group at the end of which he failed to pass the selection process, the Mail reported.

Choudhury is one of six men from the city of Portsmouth who travelled to join ISIS in Syria.

“I have no doubt that when you embarked on this trip you and your companions hoped that your actions would encourage others to take the same journey,” Dodgson was quoted as saying by the Mail.

“That has indeed occurred with the disastrous consequences we, and so many young men's families, now live with”'
Choudhury has made several false claims about his origins and his jobs, the judge said adding that he put on an image of a “teacher or scholar” that could provide “advice” and guidance to younger members of the group.

‘Twinkle twinkle little star’

He was arrested in October last year and first claimed he has been involved in aid work in Syria.

After confessing to his involvement with the militants, Choudhury said he was sidelined and was forced to cook, wash and sing Twinkle Twinkle Litte Star to children, the Mail reported.

His own lawyer conceded that he had been living a lie, having claimed to his wife that he had cancer, who in turn gave her husband more than £35,000 for treatment.

He reportedly spend the money on prostitutes and foreign holidays.