Jailed ISIS 'jihadi bride' given more than £132,000 towards her legal bill

Tareena Shakil became the first British woman to be convicted of joining the terrorist organisation when she was jailed in February this year.

At her sentencing, Mr Justice Inman told her she had shown no remorse and she was fully aware her son's future would ultimately be as an 'ISIS fighter'.

But figures show the 26-year-old 'jihadi bride' received £132,703 from the government in Legal Aid for solicitors and barristers to fight her unsuccessful defence.

A total of £72,875 was paid to her solicitor, £53,918 to her barrister and there was £5,909 to cover disbursements.

The Legal Aid system provides financial support to those who cannot afford their own legal representation.

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley and member of the Commons Justice Committee, said: "It's bizarre that this woman is quite ready to fight to destroy our civilisation but very happy to take money from the tax payer.

"Isis doesn't give fair trials, and she's been nothing more than deplorable.

"It undermines the system and it's a colossal amount of money.

"The Legal Aid system needs to change to be better for the tax payer.

"I think there needs to be a cap on how much you can claim.

"It seems to me that many legal aid solicitors are struggling and too much is being taken out at the top."

Shakil, 26, attended The de Ferrers Academy in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, and worked at Morrisons in her youth.

The former health worker, who had lived in Birmingham, fled to Syria with her 14-month-old son in October 2014.

She was in a troubled relationship and vulnerable to the propaganda that draws so-called 'jihadi brides' to move to Syria and marry ISIS fighters.

Using her student loan, she flew from East Midlands Airport to Turkey after telling friends she was going on a beach holiday.

From there she crossed the border into war-torn Syria.

However, once in the country she said she became unhappy and decided to return of her own free will.

She said she caught a bus away from the city of Raqqa before bribing a taxi driver to take her and her son to within a kilometre of the Turkish border in January 2015.

She handed herself in to Turkish border authorities before being flown back to the UK and arrested.

During her trial at Birmingham Crown Court, she maintained she left Britain to escape 'an unhappy family life'.

However, the court was told how the boy was posed for pictures wearing an ISIS-branded balaclava, with Mr Justice Inman saying she had 'embraced ISIS' and showed 'no remorse' for her actions.

Shakil admitted she travelled to Syria but denied having joined ISIS or encouraging acts of terrorist via messages posted on Twitter.

Shakil received four years for joining ISIS and two for inciting acts of terror.