GUILTY: Walsall 'Caldmore Chameleon' and jihadi bride convicted over Syria terrorist network

A jury at the Old Bailey this afternoon found Ayman Shaukat, aged 27, guilty of helping his friends Sajid Aslam, 34, and Alex Nash, 22, all from Walsall, travel to Syria by driving them to airports and managing their affairs back home.

And Aslam's wife Lorna Moore, 33, a Muslim convert and former protestant, was found guilty of failing to alert authorities about her husband's plans to travel to the so-called Islamic State.

Three men from Walsall – Aslam, 34, of Glebe Street, church minister's son Jacob Petty, 26, of Slaney Street and 24-year-old Isaiah Siadatan – successfully travelled to Syria from the town during 2014.

Shaukat, of Pargeter Street, was treasurer and later vice-chairman of extremist group Islam Walsall which had a meeting house dubbed the Walsall Islamic Centre in Bradford Lane.

The group was sympathetic to ISIS, had stalls at Walsall Market, and once hosted a Christmas Day conference with cronies of the hook-handed radical cleric Abu Hamza, who was jailed in January last year for multiple charges, including hostage-taking and plotting to set up a terrorism training camp in the US.

Moore, of Glebe Street, was a trainee teacher, and planned to join her husband in Syria. She had booked flights to Palma in Majorca, Spain, where she and her three children intended to travel onwards to the Turkish border and slip into Syria.

Two other people associated with Shaukat and Moore had previously pleaded guilty to terrorism-related offences.

Kerry Thomason, 24, pleaded guilty to assisting Siadatan, her husband, prepare for acts of terrorism.

Alex Nash, of Bentley Lane, pleaded guilty to preparing for acts of terrorism before the trial.

At the time of Aslam's departure in August 2014, Moore had taken the rest of the family on a Butlins holiday in Skegness.

The day after dropping him off at the airport, Shaukat sent a photograph of himself on his mobile phone posing with the IS flag, the court heard.

As Aslam crossed into Syria, he sent a triumphant coded message back to Shaukat in the form of a video link to a song called Made It by Cash Money Heroes.

Within months, Moore had booked flights to Palma, Majorca, but the prosecution said her final destination was given away in a text from Nash's wife in Turkey saying "see you there".

But giving evidence, Moore said she would "never" put her children's lives in danger, adding: "They mean the world to me."

She insisted she had been planning to take them back to her family's farm in Omagh, Northern Ireland, after finishing her teacher training - a claim backed up by her mother.

Her relationship with Aslam ended after he became abusive and they only lived together for the sake of the children, the court heard.

She told jurors that when she turned to a Muslim cleric for a divorce, he told her that a "white Muslim is not a special Muslim" and she must take her husband back.

She said Aslam should "grow a pair" and come back to Britain and explain himself "if he is innocent and got nothing to hide".

"There is always the danger that our local people will be trained and come back and be a threat to the UK. We also need to be aware of the far reaching effects on local communities and the families of those involved.

"In recent months we have seen the dangers of trained terrorists returning to Europe to commit acts of terrorism which emphasises how important it is for officers to prevent travel.

"If anyone is concerned that a friend or family member is thinking of travelling to Syria it is very important that they tell us as soon as possible. Police and other agencies can offer support to help safeguard those who are vulnerable to radicalisers.

Aslam's sister Sarwat told jurors her brother had been in touch with her during the course of the trial to say he wanted to "start a dialogue with police about coming home".

Shaukat, of Pargeter Street, Walsall, denied helping his friends join IS by dropping Aslam and Nash off at airports.

The convicted burglar and law degree graduate was nicknamed Caldmore Chameleon during the trial because he presented different versions of himself and his home in the Caldmore area in Walsall is known locally as Karma.

He described IS as "evil" and said that he had told MI5 he would "assist in any way I could" after agents contacted him as treasurer of the community group Islam Walsall.

The former Legal and General personal case manager had several meetings and phone calls with security services before their association "fizzled out", he said.

Jurors were told about other members of the West Midlands group who allegedly set off for Syria between July and December 2014.

The first to join IS was Muslim convert, Jake Petty, 25, also known as Abu Yaqoob Britany.

His Christian minister mother Sue Boyce wept as she told jurors how she begged him not to go and later had to identify his body from video footage on social media after he was killed in December 2014.

Petty was swiftly followed by former schoolmate Isaiah Siadatan, 24, whose pregnant wife Kerry Thomason, 24, was supposed to fly out with their two children but was stopped by police.

The court heard that he had sent her an email in December 2014 insisting that she should bring their children to him in IS.

Siadatan is believed to have been killed in the summer of 2015, although his death is unconfirmed.

Thomason has previously pleaded guilty to assisting her husband in preparation of his terrorist acts.

Nash, 22, and his pregnant wife Yousma Jan, 20, were arrested by Turkish authorities and sent back to the UK.

He took sole responsibility for the plan and admitted preparing acts of terrorism, while a charge against his wife was discontinued.

The jury was not told about two other men and a woman from Walsall who are also believed to have gone to Syria.

One of the men has since died in fighting, according to unconfirmed reports. The wife of the other man is understood to have given birth to a child after becoming pregnant in Syria.

Neither defendant made any reaction as the guilty verdicts were delivered.

Sentence was adjourned to a date to be fixed.

Judge Charles Wide granted Moore conditional bail out of "concern" for her children.

But he told her she should have "no expectations raised" about the likely sentence. She left the courtroom accompanied by a man who is believed to be a close relative.