Ever heard of anyone calling himself/herself a terrorist? Here I am, arrest me!

That is exactly what Samina Malik of Southall did. She changed her internet name from “Lyrical Babe” to “Lyrical Terrorist” because it sounded “cool”.

People normally defend their actions and killing of innocent civilians by calling themselves freedom fighters, liberators, defendors of the state or for the sake spreading democracy. Ever heard of a anyone calling himself/herself a terrorist?

The vast majority of the west would be disgusted by what happened on 9/11 or 7/7. What we rightly hear is that “Nothing could justify the killing of innocent civilians”.

Yet, today we find that in a survey carried out in August by pollsters ICM:
• - Only 51% of people in the UK felt civilians should always be protected
• - 47% say atrocities are "inevitable"

It is no wonder that merely being in possession of material that is easily available on the web can get you labeled as a terrorist and sent to prison for 10 years, even if you have absolutely no intention of harming anyone else. You do not need to have specific act planned or be intellectually capable of planning one.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, of Scotland Yard, said: “She had the ideology, ability and determination to access and download material, which could have been useful to terrorists.”

Who does not possess the “ability and determination to access and download material” from the internet?

She was cleared of the more serious offence of possessing articles for a terrorist purpose but convicted of collecting information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Passing sentence, the Judge said: “You are 23, of good character till now and from a supportive and law-abiding family.”

And that the offence was “on the margin of what this crime concerns”, and gave her a nine month sentence suspended for 18 months.

She has been described as “just a silly girl going through a phase” and writing very offensive so-called poetry.