British mother convicted of joining IS

Tareena Shakil is believed to be the first British woman found guilty of travelling to Syria to join the Islamic State group.

The 26-year-old had told friends and family in Birmingham that she had booked a holiday in October 2014 - but secretly took her baby son to Raqqa, IS' de facto capital in Syria.

Thousands of her social media messages and images were analysed by experts, prosectors told the two-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

But it was the fact that she had taken her infant child with her that shocked many observers.

"He was put in substantial danger in a chaotic war zone, that is no place for a young British citizen to be," said Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale of West Midlands Police.

"He is now back in the UK, he is safe and we wish him a long, successful life."

Shakil changed her mind some two and half months after arriving in Syria, where she was forced to live in a house for unmarried women. After escaping from the clutches of IS, she reached the Turkish border, where she was picked up by Turkish soldiers.

She returned to Britain a month later, and was arrested at Heathrow Airport.

Shakil, a former healthcare worker and Spice Girls fan, did not ask for sympathy, telling the court: "I came back of my own free will. I came back because I realised I had made a mistake."

She said she had gone to Syria believing that reports of IS atrocities had been exaggerated, and she simply wanted to live "a Muslim life" under Sharia.

Her defence team argued she had been groomed by IS recruiters who exploited her vulnerability in the wake of her marriage's collapse.

She will be sentenced at a later date.