Terror plotter's sister spared jail for failing to warn police because of 'controlling' relatives

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A woman who failed to tell police about her brother’s terror plot after practicing attack techniques with him has been spared jail for a second time.

The Court of Appeal found that Sneha Chowhury’s original suspended prison sentence was not “unduly lenient” because she was subjected to controlling behaviour by male relatives.

At a hearing in London on Friday, Lady Justice Macur said a trial judge was justified in finding that the 26-year-old’s case was “exceptional”.

The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Knowles and Mr Justice Picken, said: “She was subject to controlling behaviour by male members of her family.

“In those circumstances, it is possible, we consider, that this judge's ultimate sentence cannot be deemed to be unduly lenient.”

Lady Justice Macur added Sneha had committed a serious offence and had a responsibility to reveal her brother's plans "to prevent what was potentially significant harm, including death, to others".

But she said the sentencing judge correctly took into account "the unique and exceptional home background that had subsisted over many years", including her role in caring for her ill mother.

Sneha sobbed in the public gallery as the decision was announced and hugged her lawyer after she walked free from court.

Her brother, Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, attacked police officers with a sword outside Buckingham Palace in August 2017 after writing a martyrdom letter telling his sister to “struggle against the enemies of Allah”.

The Isis fanatic was acquitted of terror charges after claiming he was suicidal and merely wanted police to shoot him dead, but started plotting again within days of being released from prison.

The siblings’ trial heard that Mohiussunnath told Sneha of his plans, used her bank account to buy wooden practice swords and trained with her using the weapons at their Luton home.

Covert recordings from their bugged home and cars showed Mohiussunnath telling his sister how he would “run up, hold the blade like that and then I would stab it like that”.

He later told Sneha he needed to “practice decapitation techniques” and shortly before his arrest in July 2019, he announced his intention to carry out a new terror attack.

Sneha suggested that her brother was just feeling down but he told her: “I’m doing another attack bruv … I’m serious bro it’s about time now.”

Mohiussunnath considered several potential targets for an attack using a gun, sword or vehicle, including Madame Tussauds, the London Pride parades and tourists on an open-top tour bus.

Giving evidence to Woolwich Crown Court earlier this year, Sneha said she was “not concerned” about her brother’s research or extremist reading material, adding: “He’s his own adult, I can’t dictate what he wants to do.”

She denied discussing Isis or jihadi ideology, adding: “Me and my brother are just weird, we miaow at each other and stuff … it’s not normal.”

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told Woolwich Crown Court Sneha had “better reason than anyone to understand what her brother was thinking, and wanting to achieve”.

“Despite knowing what he had tried to do before and what he told her in the clearest of terms he was going to do now, Sneha  failed to disclose that information to the police,” he added.

She was convicted of failing to disclose information regarding terrorist activity, although the court heard she was guided by “misguided loyalty” to her brother rather than extremist views.

Sneha was sentenced today to two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years, and given a 60-day rehabilitation order in August, and the attorney general allowed a challenge under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

Judge Andrew Lees accepted that Sneha had been the subject of “controlling behaviour” by male members of her family, and found she did not pose a risk to the public.

Marion Smullen, defending, called Sneha a “perfectly ordinary young woman” who had been overwhelmed by her responsibilities looking after her mentally ill mother, studying at university and working part time.

The court heard she had got married since her brother’s plot and was living with her husband’s family, and had been volunteering with the NHS during the coronavirus pandemic.

Additional reporting by PA