Four siblings have been taken into care after reporting their parents to the authorities for allegedly supporting Isis and forcing them to watch a beheading video.
The children include a 10-year-old boy with learning difficulties who has been so traumatised by the alleged “physical and emotional abuse” that he is unable to speak, court papers state.
Police intervened after the eldest sibling, a teenage girl, contacted Childline to say they “were kept at home, did not attend school and were kept socially isolated, only being allowed out once in every three weeks”.
Dame Esther Rantzen, the Childline founder and president, said the case was “horrific” and applauded the girl’s courage. The details emerged last week after a hearing in the family division of the High Court. Last Sunday this newspaper disclosed the extent of Isis-linked child radicalisation in the UK, including a two-year-old boy who has returned from Syria with an interest in “shooting people”. [The Times (£)] Read more
