Ex-model & Jihadi jailed for 10 years for helping bombers, after bosses failed to uncover criminal past - Continentalinquirer

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Tuesday, 10 October 2017

Ex-model & Jihadi jailed for 10 years for helping bombers, after bosses failed to uncover criminal past

Mulumebet Girma rose through housing department ranks after London’s Southwark Council failed to uncover her criminal past, despite her being in one of the UK’s highest-profile terror trials.
 Convicted Mulumebet Girma was given a top job at London's Southwark Council
RAY COLLINS - THE SUN
Convicted Mulumebet Girma was given a top job at London's Southwark Council
 Girma was chosen to be on the cover for a council magazine
Girma was chosen to be on the cover for a council magazine
The Ethiopian ex-model was even put on the cover of a council magazine to promote its apprenticeship scheme. Girma, 33, has now been sacked.
Girma got a job with Southwark Council as a trainee customer services assistant in 2013 — shortly after she was released early from a 10-year jail term.
She did not declare her criminal past and the council failed to uncover it despite her having a key role in one of Britain’s highest profile terror trials.
A simple Google search would have revealed ex-model Girma had been convicted under the Terrorism Act for assisting her brother-in-law Hussein Osman, who tried to blow up a packed commuter train on 21 July 2005.
 Osman was caught in Italy after Girma helped him flee
AP:ASSOCIATED PRESS
Osman was caught in Italy after Girma helped him flee
 Girma buys The Sun in Brighton the day after bombing
ENTERPRISE NEWS AND PICTURES
Girma buys The Sun in Brighton the day after bombing
There is even a Wikipedia page detailing her involvement, after Osman failed to blow up a train in Shepherd's Bush when his rucksack bomb only partially exploded.
He was taken by Girma's sister and brother to her home in Brighton, where the student and model tended burns to his legs.
Girma hid Osman - the father of her three nieces and nephews - in her home, and lied to the police about his whereabouts.
She then helped him to a safe house, and he later escaped to London and then Rome.
Mulumebet Girma and boyfriend Mohamed Kabashi captured on CCTV buying newspapers
 CCTV footage of Mulumebet Girma at a petrol station in Preston Road, Brighton
REX FEATURES
CCTV footage of Mulumebet Girma at a petrol station in Preston Road, Brighton
 Osman is seen on board the number 22 bus as it travelled from Wood Lane, west London before his failed suicide bombing
PA:PRESS ASSOCIATION
Osman is seen on board the number 22 bus as it travelled from Wood Lane, west London before his failed suicide bombing
In June 2008 Girma and her siblings were found guilty of assisting an offender and failing to disclose information on the plot.
She and her brother Esayas were both jailed for ten years, while her sister Yeshi - Osman's wife - was handed a 15-year-sentence.
Judge Paul Worsley told the siblings the sentences he was able to pass by law were "woefully inadequate to reflect the enormity" of the case.
He said the sisters had told the court a "tissue of lies".
 Girma got ten years for hiding the failed suicide bomber at her home
REX FEATURES
Girma got ten years for hiding the failed suicide bomber at her home
He added: "In my judgment it is almost impossible to imagine more serious offending.
"I have no doubt that each of you were prepared to aid a ruthless fanatic and that you must have harboured hope that the bombers would have been successful in their mission to seek to damage our society where people can still go about their daily business fairly and with confidence.
"This court will reflect society's condemnation of what you did by imposing sentences which punish, deter others, and ensure the public are protected."
 Girma appearing at court in 2008, where she was handed a ten-year-sentence
CENTRAL NEWS
Girma appearing at court in 2008, where she was handed a ten-year-sentence
 Girma got the job with Southwark Council as a trainee customer services assistant in 2013
REX FEATURES
Girma got the job with Southwark Council as a trainee customer services assistant in 2013
Upon her release, Girma rose through the ranks to become a systems and performance analyst in the housing team.
She appeared on the cover of a council magazine to show off the success of its apprenticeship scheme.
A source said: “How did she manage to get this job without any checks? All it would take was a Google of her name to see her past.
“The database she had control over contains clients who are deemed ‘vulnerable.’ This is for a whole range of reasons — but one is them being on a watch list, or worries they could be at risk of links to terrorism…”
Southwark Tory councillor Michael Mitchell said: “This is a truly shocking blunder. Allowing someone with that background to work with potentially vulnerable clients is an entirely avoidable risk. It’s a huge error.”
 Hussein Osman tried to blow up a packed commuter train in 2005
EPA
Hussein Osman tried to blow up a packed commuter train in 2005
 Two of Osman's accomplices, Muktar Said Ibrahim (left) and Ramzi Mohammed, during their arrest on July 29, 2005
HANDOUT
Two of Osman's accomplices, Muktar Said Ibrahim (left) and Ramzi Mohammed, during their arrest on July 29, 2005
She was one of 40 apprentices in 2013 and eventually got a permanent job at the council's Peckham office.
Southwark Council yesterday said Girma had been sacked and an investigation launched — but denied she had direct access to watch list data.
Chief executive Eleanor Kelly said: “As soon as her background came to light we terminated her employment. She did not disclose her full offence.
“During her employment this individual never had access to police watch list data.
“We have fully reviewed her activity while she was employed at the council, including her computer usage, and no wrongdoing was uncovered.”
 The pair were found in a seventh-floor west London flat, while Osman was arrested later that day in Italy
PA:PRESS ASSOCIATION
The pair were found in a seventh-floor west London flat, while Osman was arrested later that day in Italy
 Italian forensic experts examine Osman’s Rome hideout
EPA
Italian forensic experts examine Osman’s Rome hideout
 The attempted bombing happened just two weeks after terrorists killed 52 passengers on July 7
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
The attempted bombing happened just two weeks after terrorists killed 52 passengers on July 7
The July 21 bombers attempted to blow up Tube trains and a bus two weeks after terrorists killed 52 passengers in the July 7 attacks.
A huge death toll was averted because the four bombers failed to mix their devices’ chemicals properly.

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