Sheffield woman who wanted to marry Jihadi John tried to keep trial details secret

A Sheffield ISIS sympathiser who wanted to '˜marry Jihadi John' tried to block details of her trial being reported.
Zafreen KhadamZafreen Khadam
Zafreen Khadam

The Star can now reveal Zafreen Khadam attempted to prevent the newspaper from publishing information about her trial for sharing Islamic State propaganda and execution videos online.

Dermot Hughes, representing Khadam, said at the start of the trial his client had previous medical problems and making any information public about the case could result in her being unable to participate in the proceedings.

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Mr Hughes told Sheffield Crown Court allowing information about the evidence in the case to be made public would create a ‘real risk of deterioration in her mental health’, potentially putting the progress of the trial at risk.

But Judge Julian Goose QC rejected the argument and allowed an application by The Star to lift reporting restrictions on the case that had been imposed by a previous judge prior to the beginning of the trial.

He said the imposed restrictions under the Contempt of Court Act already allowed details of the defendant’s name, age, address and the charges against her to be published.

Judge Goose said it had been indicated Khadam had suffered from depression and anxiety.

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He said he did not accept the argument the trial could be put at risk by publicity of it.

Judge Goose said: “I have come to the conclusion there is not a significant risk to the administration of justice, let alone a substantial one.”

Khadam, 32, of Vincent Road, Sharrow, was found guilty by a jury of 10 counts of dissemination of terrorist publications and jailed for four-and-half years.