Nawal Msaad yesterday. Photo: Jonathan Brady/PAA young woman who tried to smuggle €20,000 in cash in her knickers on a flight to Turkey has been dramatically cleared of funding jihadists in Syria.
But her friend who allegedly asked her to be a “trusted courier” for the money was found guilty of the offence in the first prosecution of its kind.
The Old Bailey heard Nawal Msaad, 27, attempted to take the rolled-up notes on a flight to Istanbul from Heathrow in January.
She did it for her friend Amal El-Wahabi, 27, whose husband Aine Davis, 30, asked for the money, having left the UK to pursue a jihadist cause in Syria in July last year.
The plan was scuppered when Msaad was stopped at the departure gate and she produced the cash, which had been hidden inside a condom but had fallen out into her knickers.
Msaad, of Holloway, north London, and El-Wahabi, of northwest London, denied the charge of making money available with “reasonable cause to suspect that it would or may be used for the purposes of terrorism”.
The jury of six women and five men cleared Msaad but convicted El-Wahabi after deliberating for five days.
Defendant was stopped at airport departure gate and produced €20,000 that was hidden in her knickers
El-Wahabi is the first Briton to be convicted under terror laws of funding jihadi fighters in Syria.
She sobbed uncontrollably in the dock as the jury returned its guilty verdict, saying: “I can’t breathe, no, I can’t breathe.”
Msaad was also crying as she was led away from the dock.
The jury convicted El-Wahabi by a majority of 10-1 after deliberating for 23 hours and 15 minutes.
Jurors were told the women were both London-born of Moroccan descent and had been close friends for years.
Msaad, who had been studying human resources at London Metropolitan University in Aldgate, agreed to take the cash on the promise of €1,000 in expenses, jurors heard.
When she was stopped on January 16 she said the three-day trip to Istanbul was a “short break” to buy gold for her mother.
She was taken into a private room where she produced 38 €500 notes, four €200 notes and two €100 notes from her underwear.
The court heard the arrangements were made in the days before in phone calls and WhatsApp messages between El-Wahabi and her husband Davis and Msaad.
The same day Msaad was arrested, police went to El-Wahabi’s home and seized mobile phones and computer equipment.
They revealed that Davis, who used the Muslim name Hamza, had kept in regular contact with mother-of-two El-Wahabi since he left London.
The jury was shown a stream of Skype texts between the couple in which El-Wahabi initially complained of being lonely and begged him to come back.
It was also shown a selfie Davis sent her, as well as videos containing jihadist propaganda.
Prosecutor Mark Dennis QC said: “It is plain from images that he had sent to her that Davis had fulfilled his desire and was now with jihadist fighters and was supporting the familiar black flag adopted by the extremist jihadist terrorist groups in various countries in that troubled part of the world.”
But El-Wahabi denied knowledge of any terrorist activities or their funding.
When Msaad went into the witness box, she accused her co-defendant of “stitching” her up by not telling her where the money came from. She insisted she had never meant to smuggle cash abroad to bankroll terrorism.
Davis, 30, who was born in London with roots in Gambia, met El-Wahabi at a local mosque and become increasingly interested in Islam six or seven years ago, the court heard. His current whereabouts are unknown.
El-Wahabi will be sentenced on September 12.