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Parents 'ignored warnings over IS fighter son', court hears Parents 'sent money to IS fighter son in Syria'
(about 3 hours later)
The parents of a man alleged to have joined the group calling itself Islamic State ignored warnings that he had been radicalised and sent him money, a court has heard. The parents of a man who joined the group calling itself Islamic State sent him money while he was in Syria, a jury at the Old Bailey has heard.
John Letts, 58, and Sally Lane, 56, of Chilswell Road, Oxford, are on trial at the Old Bailey and deny three charges of funding terrorism. Jack Letts, who converted to Islam aged 16, travelled to the war zone in 2014.
Jack Letts travelled to Syria in 2014. The court heard John Letts, 58, and Sally Lane, 56, of Chilswell Road, Oxford, sent or tried to send more than £1,700 to their son despite warnings not to.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC told the court that terrorism laws were there for the "greater good". The couple deny three charges of funding terrorism.
But she also said the pair were not terrorists, had never been in trouble with police before, and it was inevitable jurors would have "sympathy" for them as parents. It is alleged that between September 2015 and January 2016 the couple sent or tried to send three payments to Jack, now 23, after he contacted them from the war zone.
She added: "It was not open to these defendants to take the law into their own hands and to send money to their son, whatever their own reasons and motives may have been." 'Sympathy for parents'
The couple sent or tried to send their son a total of £1,723 between September 2015 and January 2016, the court heard. Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC told the jury there was no suggestion Jack's parents were themselves terrorists or supporters of the ideology or actions of the banned IS group.
'Grand adventure' But she added: "They sent money to their son with knowledge or reasonable cause to suspect that it might be used by him or others to support terrorist activity, or that it might fall into the hands of others who would use it for that purpose.
Jack Letts, now 23, converted to Islam aged 16 and attended a mosque in Cowley Road, Oxford. "It is inevitable that you will have sympathy for them as parents of a man who took himself to Syria against their wishes, but you will also see from the evidence the way in which these defendants came to commit these offences, despite being warned by a wide variety of people."
His parents allowed him to travel abroad in May 2014 even though a friend warned them he had been radicalised, the court was told. The jury heard the evidence would show that the couple knew Jack was in Syria with the IS group and, when he began asking for cash, they suspected he was being manipulated.
Ms Lane bought him a £400 return flight to Jordan but told a friend Jack said he was "going to fight in Syria", jurors heard. Ms Morgan said Mr Letts and Ms Lane were repeatedly told by "numerous police officers" not to send any money.
After missing his flight home, Mr Letts emailed his son, saying: "It's weird you're so far away but hey, you are on a grand adventure." They received further similar advice from a range of terrorism experts they consulted for help, the court heard.
Kamal Dingle, an Oxford PhD student, would later email Mr Letts to say "there is some concern regarding the company he is keeping" there. "It was not open to these defendants to take the law into their own hands, whatever their own reasons and motives," Ms Morgan said.
The court heard how by September Mr Letts emailed: "A father should never live to see his son buried. "Sending money in such circumstances, where you may conclude that it was highly likely to fall into the wrong hands, is against the law."
"Please I beg you my son, come home or at least leave where you are and do not get involved." Maintain contact
He wrote that his mother was "collapsing with fear and sadness", and accused him of misleading them. Oxford-based Muslim friends of Jack Letts, who has obsessive compulsive disorder, feared he had been radicalised by extremists, the court was told.
One friend from the local mosque contacted his parents to warn them about that possibility of their son secretly leaving the UK to join the Syrian conflict, and urged them to confiscate his passport.
Despite those concerns, they paid for Jack to fly to Jordan in May 2014, apparently for a study trip, the prosecution said.
The court heard the couple sought to maintain contact with Jack, with Mr Letts messaging his son to talk about his "grand adventure".
But both parents harboured growing suspicions about Jack's ultimate motives, Ms Morgan said, and by September 2014 they realised he must have entered Syria.
The trial continues.