'Dangerous' leader of Walsall terror cell who helped pregnant women join ISIS is released from jail
The ringleader of a Walsall terror group who plotted to smuggle unborn babies and children into Syria has been released from jail after serving six years of a 10-year sentence.
Ayman Shaukat was jailed in 2016 after a three-week trial, having acted as the 'fixer' for the extremist group Islam Walsall which saw at least five members join ISIS.
The plot, dreamt up in Walsall during 2014, planned to smuggle at least four pregnant women and four young children into the Islamic State.
Shaukat was found guilty of assisting his friends Sajid Aslam and Alex Nash, as well as Nash's pregnant wife Yousma Jan, to travel to the war-torn country to engage in terrorism.
He was given an extended sentence of 10 years in jail, with an extended licence period of five years. People who are given extended sentences can apply for parole two-thirds of the way through the sentence.
It has now been revealed that Shaukat was released from prison after a parole hearing in September last year which questioned the risk he could pose to the public if he were to be released.
Shaukat, who was also a convicted burglar, was nicknamed the Caldmore Chameleon by counter-terrorism police for his ability to repeatedly change his story.
