Student who stabbed Labour MP in east London in 2010 to be freed from prison, says Parole Board
LONDON: A student who attempted to murder Labour MP Stephen Timms in May 2010 can be released from prison following a Parole Board decision.
Roshonara Choudhry was 21 when she was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years for stabbing Timms twice in the stomach, and was also charged with two counts of possessing an offensive weapon.
Choudhry, a former King's College London student, was radicalized after watching lectures by an Al-Qaeda cleric, and her attack was believed to have been the first Al-Qaeda-inspired attempt to assassinate a politician on British soil.
Choudhry attacked the East Ham MP, the minister of state for social security and disability in the current UK government, while he held a constituency surgery at the Beckton Globe community center in east London. Following her arrest, she told police the stabbing was 'punishment' and 'to get revenge for the people of Iraq.'
During a Parole Board hearing on May 20, a panel decided to release her from prison. It added that her imprisonment 'was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.'
Choudhry, now 36, participated in programs while in prison to understand her extreme beliefs, and her behavior was described by the panel as 'exemplary.'
It added: 'Ms Choudhry was assessed as having shown a very high level of insight and understanding of herself.
'She would no longer be likely to be influenced by other people with strong negative views, having developed the ability to critically evaluate information and to seek help from professionals if she needs it.'
The panel recommended Choudhry's release on license, with conditions to live at a designated address, follow a curfew, and avoid contact with Timms.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
A woman tried to call her mom in Iran. A robotic voice answered the phone
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: When Ellie, a British-Iranian living in the United Kingdom, tried to call her mother in Tehran, a robotic female voice answered instead. 'Alo? Alo?' the voice said, then asked in English: 'Who is calling?' A few seconds passed. 'I can't heard you,' the voice continued, its English imperfect. 'Who you want to speak with? I'm Alyssia. Do you remember me? I think I don't know who are you.' Ellie, 44, is one of nine Iranians living abroad — including in the U.K and US — who said they have gotten strange, robotic voices when they attempted to call their loved ones in Iran since Israel launched airstrikes on the country a week ago. They told their stories to The Associated Press on the condition they remain anonymous or that only their first names or initials be used out of fear of endangering their families. Five experts with whom the AP shared recordings said it could be low-tech artificial intelligence, a chatbot or a pre-recorded message to which calls from abroad were diverted. It remains unclear who is behind the operation, though four of the experts believed it was likely to be the Iranian government while the fifth saw Israel as more likely. The messages are deeply eerie and disconcerting for Iranians in the diaspora struggling to contact their families as Israel's offensive targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites pounds Tehran and other cities. Iran has retaliated with hundreds of missiles and drones, and the government has imposed a widespread Internet blackout it says is to protect the country. That has blocked average Iranians from getting information from the outside world, and their relatives from being able to reach them. 'I don't know why they're doing this,' said Ellie, whose mother is diabetic, low on insulin and trapped on the outskirts of Tehran. She wants her mother to evacuate the city but cannot communicate that to her. A request for comment sent to the Iranian mission to the UN was not immediately answered. Some of the messages are bizarre Most of the voices speak in English, though at least one spoke Farsi. If the caller tries to talk to it, the voice just continues with its message. A 30-year-old women living in New York, who heard the same message Ellie did, called it 'psychological warfare.' 'Calling your mom and expecting to hear her voice and hearing an AI voice is one of the most scary things I've ever experienced,' she said. 'I can feel it in my body.' And the messages can be bizarre. One woman living in the UK desperately called her mom and instead got a voice offering platitudes. 'Thank you for taking the time to listen,' it said, in a recording that she shared with the AP. 'Today, I'd like to share some thoughts with you and share a few things that might resonate in our daily lives. Life is full of unexpected surprises, and these surprises can sometimes bring joy while at other times they challenge us.' Not all Iranians abroad encounter the robotic voice. Some said when they try to call family, the phone just rings and rings. It's not clear who is behind this — or what the goal is Colin Crowell, a former vice president for Twitter's global policy, said it appeared that Iranian phone companies were diverting the calls to a default message system that does not allow calls to be completed. Amir Rashidi, an Iranian cybersecurity expert based in the US, agreed and said the recordings appeared to be a government measure to thwart hackers, though there was no hard evidence. He said that in the first two days of Israel's campaign, mass voice and text messages were sent to Iranian phones urging the public to gear up for 'emergency conditions.' They aimed to spread panic — similar to mass calls that government opponents made into Iran during the war with Iraq in the 1980s. The voice messages trying to calm people 'fit the pattern of the Iranian government and how in the past it handled emergency situations,' said Rashidi, the director of Texas-based Miaan, a group that reports on digital rights in the Middle East. Mobile phones and landlines ultimately are overseen by Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. But the country's intelligence services have long been believed to be monitoring conversations. 'It would be hard for anybody else to hack. Of course, it is possible it is Israeli. But I don't think they have an incentive to do this,' said Mehdi Yahyanejad, a tech entrepreneur and Internet freedom activist. Marwa Fatafta, Berlin-based policy and advocacy director for digital rights group Access Now, suggested it could be 'a form of psychological warfare by the Israelis.' She said it fits a past pattern by Israel of using extensive direct messaging to Lebanese and Palestinians during campaigns in Gaza and against Hezbollah. The messages, she said, appear aimed at 'tormenting' already anxious Iranians abroad. When contacted with requests for comment, the Israeli military declined and the prime minister's office did not respond. Trying new ways to contact relatives Ellie is one of a lucky few who found a way to reach relatives since the blackout. She knows someone who lives on the Iran-Turkiye border and has two phones — one with a Turkish SIM card and one with an Iranian SIM. He calls Ellie's mother with the Iranian phone — since people inside the country are still able to call one another — and presses it to the Turkish phone, where Ellie's on the line. The two are able to speak. 'The last time we spoke to her, we told her about the AI voice that is answering all her calls,' said Ellie. 'She was shocked. She said her phone hasn't rung at all.' Elon Musk said he has activated his satellite Internet provider Starlink in Iran, where a small number of people are believed to have the system, even though it is illegal. Authorities are urging the public to turn in neighbors with the devices as part of an ongoing spy hunt. Others have illegal satellite dishes, granting them access to international news. The messages are making relatives feel helpless M., a woman in the UK, has been trying to reach her mother-in-law, who is immobile and lives in Tehran's northeast, which has been pummeled by Israeli bombardment throughout the week. When she last spoke to her family in Iran, they were mulling whether she should evacuate from the city. Then the blackout was imposed, and they lost contact. Since then she has heard through a relative that the woman was in the ICU with respiratory problems. When she calls, she gets the same bizarre message as the woman in the UK, a lengthy mantra. 'Close your eyes and picture yourself in a place that brings you peace and happiness,' it says. 'Maybe you are walking through a serene forest, listening to the rustle of leaves and birds chirping. Or you're by the seashore, hearing the calming sound of waves crashing on the sand.' The only feeling the message does instill in her, she said, is 'helplessness.'
Arab News
10 hours ago
- Arab News
Singer Chris Brown pleads not guilty
LONDON: Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge related to the serious beating of a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023. Brown, 36, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and black-rimmed glasses, was arraigned in London's Southwark Crown Court on one count of attempting to unlawfully and maliciously cause grievous bodily harm with intent. Brown's friend and fellow musician Omololu Akinlolu, 39, who performs under the name 'Hoody Baby,' pleaded not guilty to the same charge. Prosecutors previously said Brown and Akinlolu assaulted producer Abe Diaw at a bar in the Tape nightclub in the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023. Brown allegedly launched an unprovoked attack on Diaw and hit him several times with a bottle and then punched and kicked him. The attack was caught on surveillance camera in front of a club full of people, prosecutors said. Brown was originally charged with a single count of grievous bodily harm after his arrest in May, but prosecutors subsequently brought an indictment adding two counts: assault causing actual bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, a bottle. When a court clerk asked Brown how he pleaded to the grievous bodily harm count, he replied: 'Not guilty ma'am.' Brown did not enter pleas on the additional counts and was ordered to return to court July 11 to face those charges after wrapping up the European leg of his world tour. His trial was scheduled for Oct. 26, 2026. The singer of 'Go Crazy,' 'Run It,' and 'Kiss Kiss' was released last month on a 5 million-pound ($6.75 million) bail, which allowed him to start his 'Breezy Bowl XX' tour earlier this month. Following his release after almost a week in jail, Brown posted on Instagram: 'FROM THE CAGE TO THE STAGE!!! BREEZYBOWL.' Brown, who quickly rose to stardom as a teen in 2005, won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for 'F.A.M.E.' and then earned his second in the same category for '11:11 (Deluxe)' earlier this year.
Al Arabiya
13 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Switzerland temporarily closes Iran embassy, UK withdraws embassy staff
Switzerland announced Friday the temporary closure of its embassy in Tehran, adding that it would continue to fulfil its role representing US interests in Iran. 'In view of the intensity of military operations in Iran and the highly unstable situation on the ground, the FDFA has decided to temporarily close the Swiss embassy in Tehran,' the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Meanwhile, the UK said it had withdrawn its embassy staff from Iran on the eighth day of the war with Israel, as the US mulled whether to enter the conflict. 'Due to the current security situation, we have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw our UK staff from Iran. Our embassy continues to operate remotely,' the foreign ministry said in a statement.
