0:00:00 > 0:00:01Whatever we have to tackle together, it will always be us
0:00:01 > 0:00:01together as a team.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Welcome to BBC London News with me, Victoria Hollins.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20First tonight, a woman from North West London who married
0:00:20 > 0:00:24the American leader of so-called Islamic State has spoken to the BBC
0:00:24 > 0:00:27about turning her back on extremism.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Tania Georgelas, who grew up in Harrow, travelled
0:00:29 > 0:00:32to Syria with her children, but fled the country before her now
0:00:32 > 0:00:35ex-husband went on to fight for IS.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39She's now dedicated her life to countering extremism,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41and wants to warn other women about how an ill-judged mistake
0:00:41 > 0:00:44cost her, her family and ten years of her life.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46She's been speaking to Rickin Majithia from
0:00:46 > 0:00:49the BBC's Asian Network.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51My name is Tania Georgelas.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53For a decade I was an Islamic extremist.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56My ex-husband became a leading member of the Islamic State and now
0:00:56 > 0:01:03I'm hoping to counter his ideology.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07In the late 1990s, Tania went to high school here in Harrow.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10It's a middle-class, diverse London suburb.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12I grew up here myself, and went to school just three
0:01:13 > 0:01:14miles down the road.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17I didn't know her at the time, but know many people who did.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19They have all described her as a pretty normal teenager.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21They say that she sometimes had boyfriends and played
0:01:21 > 0:01:22truant from school.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24She wasn't known to be especially religious or even
0:01:24 > 0:01:25politically engaged.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27So when did it all change?
0:01:27 > 0:01:30I turned to religion in my life when I was 17.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32I just wanted to change my identity.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36I didn't want to be Tania from Harrow any more.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38I wanted to be someone pious, someone that people
0:01:38 > 0:01:40didn't call a "tart".
0:01:40 > 0:01:44So it gave me structure in my life that I needed and helped me feel
0:01:44 > 0:01:45like I belonged somewhere.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48In her late teens and early 20s, Tania mixed with various
0:01:48 > 0:01:49radical groups in London.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51They changed the way she looked at the world.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Our minds were just being filled with these images,
0:01:54 > 0:01:56terrible, disturbing images.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01They would give examples of what happened in Srebrenica and Bosnia.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04We were made to feel this shared sense of guilt
0:02:04 > 0:02:07because we're a community, and it was our duty to do something.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10And that something was jihad.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14In 2003, she married John Georgelas, an American
0:02:14 > 0:02:16convert she had met online.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Over the next eight years, they lived across the UK,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21the US and the Middle East.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24By the time they reached Syria in 2013, Tania was pregnant
0:02:24 > 0:02:25with their fourth child.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28I stayed in abandoned homes by ex-military.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33The windows had been blown out and every single night,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35I had become accustomed to hearing gunfire.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38By this point, Tania said she had started
0:02:38 > 0:02:39to question the life of Jihad.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41She wanted to take the children back to America.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43After three weeks in Syria, she pleaded with John
0:02:43 > 0:02:44to let them escape.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48He agreed.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51There were bullets, like snipers, on these towers,
0:02:51 > 0:02:56shooting, and we could see the bullets flying everywhere.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58I remember putting my kids through the barbed wire
0:02:58 > 0:03:00and the Syrian refugees, they were just guys,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02they were helping us as much as they could.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05I put the stroller in, and then John passed me another baby.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07It was so scary.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09John remained in Syria and went on to join
0:03:09 > 0:03:11the so-called Islamic State.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12GUNFIRE.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Until earlier this year, the group controlled vast
0:03:15 > 0:03:18areas of Syria and Iraq, where it implemented brutal rule
0:03:18 > 0:03:20and killed thousands.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Tania says she hasn't heard from John in over a year,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25and doesn't know if he's alive or dead.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29The last thing he told me, the last message, was that he apologises
0:03:29 > 0:03:33for the wrong that he's done to me and the children, and that
0:03:33 > 0:03:36if I don't hear from him in six months, it's most likely
0:03:36 > 0:03:39because he's dead.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40Tania now lives in the United States.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43John's parents have custody of the children, and they seem
0:03:43 > 0:03:46well-adjusted to American life.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Tania sees them at the weekend.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Why should America give you a second chance,
0:03:50 > 0:03:55given all that you did to propagate extremism against this country?
0:03:55 > 0:03:58I think they should give me a second chance because I realised
0:03:58 > 0:04:01I was wrong, and I made a mistake.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04I really want to make up for my mistakes.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06She says she's turned her back on extremism and wants
0:04:06 > 0:04:08to use her experiences to deter others from making
0:04:08 > 0:04:10the same mistakes.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13If you were to meet a woman who was thinking about going down
0:04:13 > 0:04:17the same path that you once took, what would you say to her?
0:04:17 > 0:04:20I would say, I lost my family, I lost my home, I lost ten years
0:04:20 > 0:04:25of my life that I should have been, you know, working towards my
0:04:25 > 0:04:26education and a career.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29I have four children who don't have a dad now.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Is this the situation you want to be in?
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Rickin Majithia with that report.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Surrey Police say a large and complex investigation
0:04:39 > 0:04:41is being carried out into historical allegations of sexual abuse
0:04:41 > 0:04:47at a children's home near Woking.
0:04:47 > 0:04:4917 people have been arrested or questioned about allegations
0:04:49 > 0:04:52from former boarders at Kinton Approved School,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54also known as the Oaks Centre.
0:04:54 > 0:05:04Marc Ashdown is at Guildford Police Station.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Surrey police launched this investigation in May 2013 after they
0:05:11 > 0:05:14received a large number of allegations of child sex abuse from
0:05:14 > 0:05:23the 70s to the early to thousands. We don't know much about it. The
0:05:23 > 0:05:27children's home has long since closed. We believe it was for boys
0:05:27 > 0:05:31between 13 and 18 who had been in trouble with the law were struggling
0:05:31 > 0:05:35at home. They stayed there and studied there. The figures are quite
0:05:35 > 0:05:39staggering. Surrey police have already spoken to about 200 people
0:05:39 > 0:05:44as this search for potential victims and witnesses. 17 people have been
0:05:44 > 0:05:49arrested two were spoken to under caution. They believe they have
0:05:49 > 0:05:56about 1500 separate lines of enquiry. Kenton house and the Oaks
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Centre was run by Surrey County Council. We have asked them a bunch
0:06:00 > 0:06:04of questions today. Only pupils would have studied there? How any
0:06:04 > 0:06:09members of staff, when it closed? So far they have not got back with any
0:06:09 > 0:06:14answers. It is a vast investigation. There has already been a case about
0:06:14 > 0:06:23this school before?Yes, back in 2006, Keith Hamilton, 69 at the
0:06:23 > 0:06:27time, he was a housemaster at the school. He was convicted of a string
0:06:27 > 0:06:32of sex offences against two young boys under the age of 16. He was
0:06:32 > 0:06:35convicted for six years. There is nothing to suggest this is anything
0:06:35 > 0:06:40to do with him. But it is striking, alarming even, but police have
0:06:40 > 0:06:47launched this large complex investigation in 2013, but seven
0:06:47 > 0:06:49years earlier a prominent figure at the school was convicted of child
0:06:49 > 0:06:54sex offences. Surrey County Council are cooperating fully with the
0:06:54 > 0:06:59investigation. But police say many more victims, witnesses, potential
0:06:59 > 0:07:03suspects have come to light as they have started their enquiries. They
0:07:03 > 0:07:09want anybody who had anything to do with this home in the 70s, 80s or
0:07:09 > 0:07:1190s to get in touch with them urgently and confidentially.
0:07:11 > 0:07:12Thank you.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15A man who seriously injured a model and her cousin when he threw acid
0:07:15 > 0:07:17at them has admitted intentionally causing the pair
0:07:17 > 0:07:18grievous bodily harm.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21The attack happened in Beckton last June and left both victims
0:07:21 > 0:07:29with scars, as Ayshea Buksh reports.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32They were two relatives travelling through East London on their way
0:07:32 > 0:07:33to celebrate a birthday.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Resham Khan had just turned 21 and returned to England
0:07:35 > 0:07:36after living abroad.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Her cousin Jameel Muhktar was driving the car and had
0:07:39 > 0:07:41an argument with a passer-by.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45When they stopped at traffic lights in Beckton, they became victims
0:07:45 > 0:07:47of a terrible acid attack.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49I met Jameel shortly after it happened, and he described
0:07:49 > 0:07:51that horrific moment.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56He had some sort of liquid bottle, but it looked like water to me.
0:07:56 > 0:07:57It looked clear.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01He just started squeezing it in our faces and all over me, basically.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04A lot of it went on her.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Within seconds, my cousin started screaming.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Our eyes were blistered, have they started melting,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14my face started melting.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16My clothes started to burn, my shorts started sticking to me,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19there was smoke coming out of the seats.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23Their attacker was John Tomlin from nearby Canning Town.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Immediately afterwards he went on the run and slept
0:08:25 > 0:08:27rough in Epping Forest, before eventually handing
0:08:27 > 0:08:30himself into the police.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Both Resham and Jameel suffered extensive burns
0:08:32 > 0:08:34to their faces and bodies.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Jameel told me how his injuries were so bad he was put
0:08:38 > 0:08:43in an induced coma.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44I can't hear from this ear.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49Around this neck, this arm is a mess, this part of my wrist,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52my front chest, my belly, my back, my legs.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57Today at Snaresbrook Crown Court, John Tomlin pleaded guilty to two
0:08:57 > 0:08:59counts of grievous bodily harm with intent.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Judge Sheila Kavanagh asked in court for psychiatric reports on Tomlin
0:09:02 > 0:09:05to be prepared in order for her to ascertain his
0:09:05 > 0:09:07dangerousness to the public.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Resham Khan has recently posted on social media
0:09:09 > 0:09:12pictures of her recovery.
0:09:12 > 0:09:19Jameel Mukhtar is still in terrible pain, both physically and mentally.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23My face here, can you see, it's a different colour.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26My ear speaks for itself.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31Tomlin will be sentenced early next year.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34That's it for now.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Here's the weather with Elizabeth Rizzini.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Here's the weather with Elizabeth Rizzini.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45It has got a bit chilly. It is certainly cold out there now
0:09:45 > 0:09:50but it was a mild start to the morning. Temperatures between eight
0:09:50 > 0:09:55and 10 degrees. We started off on a wet note. Then we got the cold,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59sunniest off into the afternoon. The general theme through the rest of
0:09:59 > 0:10:02the week is and will be turning colder. Turning progressively colder
0:10:02 > 0:10:08as we had through the week. There will be a chilly northerly wind.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Turning briefly milder again into the weekend. It will turn cold once
0:10:12 > 0:10:16more for next week. This is tonight. There will be a patchy frost as we
0:10:16 > 0:10:21head into tomorrow morning. Bits and pieces of cloud. A brisk,
0:10:21 > 0:10:26north-westerly wind. A frost in more sheltered spot as we move into
0:10:26 > 0:10:31tomorrow morning. A cold start to the day. Cloud around in the
0:10:31 > 0:10:35morning. That should break and we will get some sunshine. Quite a nice
0:10:35 > 0:10:39afternoon but it will feel cold. A bracing wind. These are the
0:10:39 > 0:10:44temperatures. Quite a lot of wind chill as well. Wednesday looking
0:10:44 > 0:10:49similar. The best of brightness towards the West. More cloud in the
0:10:49 > 0:10:54east. The northerly wind will turn north-easterly as we head into
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Thursday and Friday. That could drive a? Showers toward eastern
0:10:57 > 0:11:01areas. For the weekend it will turn briefly milder. There will be plenty
0:11:01 > 0:11:03of cloud.