Farhana Ahmed, from Wembley, who encouraged UK terror attacks on a pro-ISIS Facebook group was spared jail after a judge took pity on her children's 'suffering'

A mother who urged others to launch terror attacks in Britain was spared jail yesterday after a judge took pity on her five children.

Farhana Ahmed, 40, shared a 'prolific quantity' of Islamic State propaganda on a Facebook group whose aim was to link extremists worldwide.

She praised the Paris attacks and posted tips on 'how to carry out a stabbing' as well as links to a library of terrorist publications with videos and images of IS fighters.

In 2015 she made 19 Facebook posts that 'directly or indirectly encouraged terrorism both within the UK and abroad,' the Old Bailey heard. Ahmed had been in custody since July last year as she awaited trial. Her five home-schooled children, aged between six and 16, were cared for by relatives.

Judge Christopher Moss QC yesterday said he was 'moved' by a letter from her daughter and ruled that she could return to her children.

He handed her a two-year suspended jail sentence after she pleaded guilty to encouraging terrorism and three counts of disseminating terrorist documents.

Judge Moss told her: 'In your exceptional case, the sooner you are returned to your children, the better for all concerned. Since you were charged and remanded in custody this has plainly had an extremely adverse effect on your children who have been looked after by family.

'You express remorse for your actions which I regard as completely genuine. It's quite clear to me that you regret in the strongest possible way your criminal conduct.'

Judge Moss said Ahmed made the posts at a 'very difficult time' in her life. He added: 'You have devoted your life, apart from this abhorrent behaviour, to the care of your children.

'There is no realistic danger of you returning to the mindset evident of your conduct of two years ago. You want nothing more than to return to your family and your family want nothing more than you to return to them. They have suffered greatly by your period in custody.'

Judge Christopher Moss QC was 'moved' by a letter from her eldest son and told Ahmed: 'In your exceptional case, the sooner you are returned to your children, the better for all concerned.'

As she left the dock, Ahmed, who wore a headscarf, quietly said 'thank you' to the judge.

Last night Conservative MP Philip Davies reacted to the decision with fury, saying: 'It is completely outrageous that this woman hasn't been jailed. People will rightly wonder what you have to do to be sent to prison by the courts these days.'

Former Tory MP Angie Bray added: 'I wonder if the judge has also considered the suffering of so many children deprived of their parents by the wicked actions of terrorists inspired by the depraved stuff they pick up on certain social media?'

The court heard that the self-described 'pro-IS' Facebook group, called Power Strangers, grew from 721 members to 1,480 in the two months after Ahmed joined. The group's name is a play on the superhero series Power Rangers.

Using the alias Kay Adams, Ahmed expressed her approval for the Paris terror attacks and published speeches by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his deputy, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, between September and November 2015. Ahmed described them as amazing speeches and called on Allah to 'preserve and protect them both'. Her posts also included calls for attacks on the West.

Prosecutor Ben Lloyd said: 'It is clear ... that she shared the group's ideology and aims.' The British national, of Wembley in north-west London, travelled to Turkey with her husband Muhammed Burmal Karwani and their children in November 2013.

Ahmed and the children returned here while her husband stayed behind. When she tried to travel to Turkey in August 2015 she was refused entry. Mr Lloyd added: 'It may be that following this, she decided to begin her campaign on Facebook encouraging terrorism.'

Ahmed had been charged with two further counts of funding terrorism, but these were dropped after the prosecution offered no evidence.

It was alleged she transferred more than £3,000 to a Turkish bank account in the name of her husband in September 2014 and sent him £4,300 in February 2015.

Mr Karwani, who was accused of terrorism offences in Turkey and was acquitted, is now back in the UK.

Ahmed was spared jail for posting Islamic State propaganda on a Facebook group called Power Strangers after a judge was moved by the 'suffering' of her five children

The case follows a growing row over how to deal with British jihadis who have tried to return from Syria to the UK.

A recent report found that Britain was home to more jihadis who have returned from Syria than almost all other countries. Only Turkey, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia are home to more people who travelled to fight for IS.

Around 850 Britons travelled to the Middle East to fight and around half are thought to be back here, meaning more than 400 are still at large.

But Britain's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Max Hill QC, sparked fury last month by calling for 'naive' teenage jihadis to be spared prosecution in the UK.

It was then reported that terror suspects including returning jihadis could be offered taxpayer-funded homes, counselling and help finding jobs to stop them carrying out attacks in Britain.

It also comes after several cases where a female defendant has been spared jail.

In August, accountant Natalie Saul, 37, who stole £350,000 to feed her gambling addiction, avoided jail after a judge said she was 'not the general stuff of which the prison population is made'.

Judge Catherine Newman QC was going to jail Saul for at least three years but had been persuaded that she was unfit for prison. She handed her a two-year suspended sentence and 250 hours' community service at Southwark Crown Court.

And Oxford University student Lavinia Woodward, 24, who stabbed her boyfriend last December, was spared prison in September after Oxford Crown Court judge Ian Pringle said she had an 'extraordinary' talent for medicine.