Mother admits travelling to Raqqa to live under sharia law but denies joining ISIS and encouraging acts of terror

She said following alleged jihadis and extremists on Twitter did not make her a terrorist

Shakil, 26, tells jury she returned 'of her own free will' after change of heart

A mother accused of taking her toddler son to Syria to join ISIS told a court today that she 'made a mistake' going to live under the terror group's rule.

Tareena Shakil, 26, from Birmingham who fled to the self-declared caliphate in October 2014 after telling her family she was going on holiday to Turkey, told a jury she came back of her 'own free will' after a change of heart.

She denies joining ISIS and encouraging acts of terror through Twitter posts, and told Birmingham Crown Court that the fact she followed alleged jihadis and extremist preachers on the social network did not make her a terrorist.

British mother Tareena Shakil (pictured), who accused of taking her toddler son to Syria to join ISIS, told a court today that she 'made a mistake' going to live under the terror group's rule

'I followed Bet 365 bingo [on Twitter] as well, but I've never been on their website,' she said.

Under a second day of cross-examination from Sean Larkin QC, prosecuting, Shakil explained why she fled ISIS territory on January 7 2015.

'I came back of my own free will,' she said. 'You didn't extradite me.

'I came back because I realised I had made a mistake.'

She had already admitted travelling to the so-called Islamic State and living in the defacto capital, Raqqa, in northern Syria, putting this down to a wish to live under the rule of sharia law.

'I was interested in Islamic State as a place, never in jihad or anything like that,' she said.

These selfies were allegedly taken by Shakil while she was living in ISIS's Syrian stronghold in Raqqa. She has already admitted travelling to the so-called Islamic State, putting this down to a wish to live under the rule of sharia law

Shakil was also asked about the social media accounts of those she followed on Twitter.

These included a jihadi fighter, according to the prosecution, whose account stated they were 'harsh towards the kuffar [non-believers]'.

Shakil, a former college student, who used to live in Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire, said she only retweeted images and passages from the Koran that she liked and denied being a terror group member.

'If he says he's harsh towards the kuffar, that's a matter for him,' she said.

Tareena Shakil, 26, pictured in her police interview after being arrested at Heathrow Airport in early 2015

Shakil denies joining ISIS and encouraging acts of terror, and told Birmingham Crown Court that the fact she followed alleged jihadis and extremist preachers on Twitter did not make her a terrorist

'I have not been - half my family are non-believers.'

The former health worker was also questioned about a comment she made in a WhatsApp message, sent back home to loved ones, saying the holy war would never end.

Shakil responded: 'You're trying to suggest they were my sentiments when, just over two weeks later, I escaped.'

Mr Larkin replied: 'If you changed them (your sentiments).'

In a heated exchange with Mr Larkin, Shakil said ISIS minders left her unable to describe the true picture of daily life in Raqqa to friends and family because of the threat of corporal punishment or death.

Earlier in the trial, jurors were told that this Facebook account, which has a pro-ISIS profile picture, was used by Shakil

Shakil, who friends described as 'a perfect mother' to her son, said: 'I was one woman alone in the most dangerous place in the world - 4,000 miles from home - around some of the most dangerous people in the world.

'And I don't want sympathy for that, because it was my decision to go there.

'But there's no police there for me to ring to help.'

She added: 'If you follow the news, you get shot dead even in Turkey.

'I can't be there saying 'Life is so terrible here, life is so awful'.'

Shakil denies being a member of ISIS and encouraging acts of terror.