THOSE who fall foul of the law because of their internet-surfing habits are often assumed to be sheepish-looking middle-aged men. On December 6th a different sort of criminal was in the dock for downloading illicit material. Samina Malik, a slight 23-year-old in a headscarf, last month became the first Muslim woman to be convicted of a terrorism offence in Britain when she was found guilty of collecting a library of jihadist manuals from the internet. This week Miss Malik, who worked at an airport bookstore and called herself the “lyrical terrorist” in online forums, was given a suspended nine-month prison sentence and community service.

She is not the first person to be punished for flirting with terrorism on the web. In July three British men were jailed for terms from seven to ten years for using the internet to incite others to wage holy war. In the same month four Bradford students and an Essex schoolboy were collectively sentenced to just over 13 years for having a treasure-trove of jihadist texts and videos, which a court determined they planned to use for terrorist purposes.

The “lyrical terrorist” has attracted attention mainly because of her bloodthirsty poetry. “Kafirs your time will come soon/And no-one will save you from your doom!” went one effort. Another was called “How to Behead”. But Miss Malik was convicted not for these offerings (which she says were inspired by popular American rap music) but for downloading documents from the web. Police discovered “The Al Qaeda Manual” and “The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook”, among other titles.

Miss Malik's trial judge admitted that he had found her “a complete enigma”. It is hard to know what to do with people who are clearly drawn to terrorism but are not actually plotting. Wallowing in jihadist nonsense online harms no one in itself, but it may well have devastating consequences if it leads to action.

Miss Malik was cleared of breaching section 57 of the Terrorism Act, which bans possessing any article “for terrorist purposes”. She was found guilty instead under section 58, which outlaws possessing documents “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”—even if there is no proof that the defendant is planning such an act himself. In October a 17-year-old was convicted under the same clause when he was caught with bomb-making instructions under his bed.

On December 6th the government proposed plans to increase the maximum time suspected terrorists may be held before being charged, from 28 days to 42, in special circumstances. The point at which terrorist sympathies pose a specific enough threat to merit imprisonment may be as hard to ascertain as the proper limit of that controversial power.