Towie-loving mum, 29, who was first British woman jailed for joining ISIS after taking toddler son to Syria is FREED
Tareena Shakil – who earned the nickname the Towie jihadi for her love of reality TV shows – had been jailed for six years in 2016 after returning from Syria where she had fled with her toddler son.
Shakil was jailed after a judge found she had intentionally travelled to the war-torn region to "produce the next generation of fighters".
She had told her family she was going on holiday to Turkey but instead secretly went to Raqqa after taking out a student loan in 2014.
Once there, Shakil even boasted of joining the terrifying Islamic State, posing with weapons – with one picture even showing her son in an IS hat.
She ultimately returned to the UK after apparently telling an IS minder she had to go visit her husband, who didn't exist.
She then got a taxi to take her close to Turkey – running across a field to safety.
Returning to England, Shakil was found guilty of encouraging acts of terrorism on social media and being a member of Islamic State, jailed for six years in 2016.
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But relatives told The Daily Mail that the former finance student had been released from jail last summer.
They said: "I’ve seen her a few times since then, including at Christmas. She has put all that radicalisation behind her and just wants to live a normal life now. She no longer wears a headscarf."
Shakil is believed to be living in a Birmingham flat.
However, relatives claimed her son was not in her custody and she instead had "supervised contact" visits.
She has put all that radicalisation behind her and just wants to live a normal life now
The revelations come after pregnant jihadi Shamima Begum, who fled the UK to join ISIS, begged to come home to have her baby.
Heavily pregnant Shamima Begum, now 19, has surfaced in a Syrian refugee camp but says she doesn’t regret her decision to join the murderous cult when she was 15.
She said: "In the end, I just could not endure anymore. I just couldn’t take it. Now all I want to do is come home to Britain."
RETURNING JIHADIS What is the law in Britain?
In 2018, it was revealed that almost 400 Brit jihadis who fought for bloodthirsty ISIS in Syria are back in the UK.
But shockingly just one in ten have been prosecuted for "direct action they've carried out in Syria".
Around 15 per cent of the 850 Brits believed to have travelled to Syria or Iraq have died.
The Home Office says every person who returns is questioned by police and an assessment made over whether they are a threat to Britain.
However few have been prosecuted.
The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill is currently going through Parliament, after its third reading in the House of Lords.
This could make travelling abroad to join terror groups an offence which carries a penalty of ten years in prison.
Security Minister Ben Wallace said: "The UK advises against all travel to Syria and parts of Iraq. Anyone who does travel to these areas, for whatever reason, is putting themselves in considerable danger.
"Everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must expect to be investigated by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.
"There are a range of terrorism offences where individuals can be convicted for crimes committed overseas and we can also use Temporary Exclusion Orders to control an individuals' return to the UK."
Shakil's release from prison comes after her father and brother were jailed for peddling drugs.
Tareem Shakil, 26, and Mohammad Shakil, 47, ran a drugs operation from three addresses in Swadlincote.
Mohammad was found guilty at trial, while Tareem pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine.
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