Sally Evans: My Son the Jihadi

In 2011, Sally Evans made a devastating discovery: her eldest son, Thomas, aged just 21, had left their home in a Buckinghamshire village and travelled to Somalia to join the Islamist terrorist group, Al Shabaab ordonnance pour du viagra.

Thomas, who changed his name to Abdul Hakim and was known as ‘the white beast’, was shot dead aged 25 by Kenyan troops in June. Sally Evans, Thomas’s mother, found out about her son’s death on Twitter.

She says: “I absolutely hated him for what he’d done. But when I think back to when he was my Thomas, of course I love him as his mum. Not what he became. I’m mourning the loss of my son Thomas but not Hakim.”

“Imagining discovering the death of your child on Twitter and being both devastated and relieved at the same time.

“Devastated because the child you brought into this world was killed after being brainwashed into pursuing a murderous cause .

“But relieved because the death of your child meant that he could no longer harm innocent people.”

A documentary called My Son the Jihadi, which details her harrowing story, was broadcast on Channel 4 yesterday.

The film captures the shocking events that unfold and their first-hand reactions as they learn more about Thomas’s exact involvement in Al Shabaab activity including the leading terror attacks on Kenyan villages, singling out Christians and cutting their throats.

His mother, Sally Evans, told documentary-maker Richard Kerbaj she will forever miss the boy she raised but is glad the man he became is dead and “burning in hell”.

Sally’s pain is clear to see. Young people who travel to join extremist groups need to consider the affect that their actions have on friends, family and loved ones.

At FAST we have worked with families who have lost sons and daughters to the lure of extremists.If you would like free and impartial advice on the warning signs of extremist behaviour then please check out the information on our website.