Shamima Begum: ‘Litany of failures’ by local council, police and school led teenage girl to join Isis, claims lawyer

A “litany of failures” by Tower Hamlets Council, the Metropolitan Police and Bethnal Green Academy led Shemina Begum and two other schoolgirls to join Isis in 2015, her lawyer has claimed.

Tasnime Akunjee, who is representing the Begum family, said it was “almost inconceivable” that to date no agency had been investigated or held to account over the Bethnal Green schoolgirls’ departure for Syria.

The lawyer said the Met Police’s counter-terrorism department’s “inadequate” handling of the schoolgirls’ case was one of the key reasons they were pushed to joining their friend Sharmeena, who was already in Syria.

He also said that while counter-terrorism police interviewed the schoolgirls over the disappearance of their friend, they failed to directly notify the parents of the schoolgirls that these preliminary interviews were taking place in the school, instead giving letters to the girls to pass onto their parents.

When approached for comment, the Met Police admitted that the letters were not passed on in every case, but said the parents were already aware that one girl had been reported missing, and that there was "nothing whatsoever" to indicate that the other girs were planning to travel to Syria.

Mr Akunjee claimed Bethnal Green Academy never informed the parents as to why the Police wanted to speak with the young girls in February 2015, nor mentioned to them that a “missing persons” case had then become an issue about radicalisation.

He accused Tower Hamlets council of “either severe negligence or a cover-up” because no serious case review had been carried out by the council when the girls left the UK.

When approached for comment, the council said they had found that this case did not meet the threshold for a serious case review, and they instead worked alongside the government’s Prevent team and the police’s SO15 counter terrorism team to conduct a wider review and provide in-depth support to the school.

It comes after a fierce debate erupted in Britain when Ms Begum was tracked down by reporters in a refugee camp last week. Several ministers, including the home secretary Sajid Javid, have insisted she would not be permitted to return to the UK and others have warned she could still be a potential threat.

In her first interview since giving birth in a refugee camp in Syria, Ms Begum said she had a “good time” while living in the country, but now wants to bring her newborn son back home to Britain.

Mr Akunjee said: “It is almost inconceivable that to date no agency has been investigated let alone held to account for the litany of failures that resulted in the Bethnal Green schoolgirls managing to travel to Isis.

“To my knowledge, neither the Begum family nor any of the other families affected have ever been contacted as part of a formal inquiry that led to these failures. We need an urgent inquiry into how Shamima Begum ended up in Syria along with her school friends.

“There are serious questions that Tower Hamlets Council along with its Mayor John Biggs, the Police and the former leadership of the Bethnal Green Academy must answer for.”

Dal Babu, former Met Police chief superintendent, said it was “shocking” to learn of the claims that actions taken by the police and the failure of the school led to the Bethnal Green schoolgirls joining Isis.

“The school failed to explain the seriousness of the situation to the parents and also what an appropriate adult meant when they assumed that role,” he said.

“This has been a cataphoric failure in safeguarding. It is extremely concerning that there has been no independent review and nothing to suggest that lessons have been learned or that safeguards have been put in place to ever stop this happening again.”

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said: “We find the accusations by the family lawyer to be unfair and skewed.

“Tower Hamlets has some of the strongest measures in place to help prevent radicalisation and has been an integral part of the government’s counter terrorism Prevent programme since 2011. We have a Prevent education officer that works in every school in our borough."