Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Woman gets seven years jail for assisting in genital mutilation

Amina Noor is only the second person to be convicted under the FGM Act of 2003 and the first convicted for committing the offence abroad

Woman gets seven years jail for assisting in genital mutilation

A woman was sentenced to seven years in jail by a judge on Friday (16) for aiding in the genital mutilation of a three-year-old girl while on a trip to Kenya.

Amina Noor, 40, was found guilty last year at the Old Bailey of assisting a non-UK person to carry out the procedure overseas some 18 years ago.


Female genital mutilation (FGM) is illegal in Britain and many other nations. It is also a criminal offence for British nationals or permanent residents to perform or help to perform it overseas.

Noor was only the second person to be convicted under the FGM Act of 2003 and the first convicted for committing the offence abroad.

The only other successful prosecution was in 2019 when a Ugandan woman from Walthamstow, east London, was jailed for 11 years for cutting a three-year-old girl.

On handing out the seven-year term, judge Simon Bryan called Noor's crime "truly horrific and abhorrent."

He hoped that the victim's "bravery" would encourage others to report similar crimes.

Noor, from Harrow in northwest London, was born in Somalia and came to the UK aged 16 where she was given British citizenship.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer told a jury that Noor had handed over the girl for so-called female circumcision during the visit to Kenya in 2006.

Noor told the court she had not expected the girl to be subjected to the procedure.

But Heer said: "Not only was the procedure carried out upon (the girl)...but the defendant had been discussing precisely the kind of FGM before she took (her) to that clinic."

The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is now aged 21 and a British citizen.

The crime came to light years later when she told her teacher at school.

The practice is common in some African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries and involves the partial or total removal of a young girl's clitoris and labia.

The risky procedure is often carried out under unsterile conditions and can lead to severe complications.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 200 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to the practice.

(AFP)

More For You

Sri Lanka seeks to negotiate with Adani over renewable energy plants

Gautam Adani

Sri Lanka seeks to negotiate with Adani over renewable energy plants

SRI LANKA’S government started talks with India’s Adani Group to lower the cost of power from two wind power projects the group will build in the island nation’s northern province, the cabinet spokesman said last Tuesday (28).

Sri Lanka has been reviewing the group’s local projects after US authorities in November accused billionaire founder Gautam Adani and other executives of being part of a scheme to pay bribes to secure Indian power supply contracts. Adani has denied the allegations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Badenoch proposes stricter citizenship rules for all migrants

Kemi Badenoch delivers speech on January 16, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Badenoch proposes stricter citizenship rules for all migrants

CONSERVATIVE PARTY on Thursday (6) proposed a clampdown on all migrants by tightening citizenship rules and barring social benefit claimants from residency rights.

Kemi Badenoch, who took over from Rishi Sunak in November last year, outlined her first major policy agenda as Tory leader in a move seen as an attempt to win back the support of Conservative voters drawn to the far-right anti-immigrant Reform party.

Keep ReadingShow less
New body led by Sir Sajid Javid aims to amplify ‘unheard’ voices
Sajid Javid

New body led by Sir Sajid Javid aims to amplify ‘unheard’ voices

A NEW independent commission to improve cohesion would engage across all nations and regions of the UK by moving beyond Westminster-centric discussions and include more diverse voices, the director of British Future thinktank has said.

Sunder Katwala said building confidence across different groups will be a priority, as economic pressures and tensions due to Middle East conflict have polarised communities in the UK.

Keep ReadingShow less
Yarl’s-Wood-detention-centre-Getty

In 2018, she was detained at Yarl’s Wood detention centre after being told she would be deported. (Photo: Getty Images)

Court awards £100,000 to Pakistani asylum seeker over unlawful detention

A PAKISTANI asylum seeker has been awarded nearly £100,000 after a UK court ruled that she was unlawfully detained and subjected to breaches of her rights by the Home Office.

Nadra Almas, who arrived in the UK on a student visa in 2004, overstayed after her visa expired. She argued that returning to Pakistan would put her at risk as a Christian.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pakistan court gives unusual punishment to Youtuber Rajab Butt for owning lion cub

Pakistani zookeeper Mohammad Amir holds the confiscated lion cub at Lahore’s safari zoo last Tuesday (28)

Pakistan court gives unusual punishment to Youtuber Rajab Butt for owning lion cub

A PAKISTANI YouTube star who was gifted a lion cub on his wedding day avoided jail after promising a judge to upload animal rights videos for a year.

Rajab Butt has one of the largest online followings in south Asia, and his week-long nuptials in December were plastered over celebrity gossip websites.

Keep ReadingShow less