2022-10-04
IS member Lisa Smith 'kept house' and jail sentence was 'excessive', lawyers argue
Stage: Appeal
Finding: Convicted
Outcome: Convicted; Photo: Collins) Former soldier Lisa Smith, who was convicted earlier this year of membership of ISIS, was at the "lowest level" of the terrorist organisation and her sentence of 15 months was "excessive", her lawyers have told the Court of Appeal. Appealing the sentence, Michael O'Higgins SC, for Smith, told the three-judge court that his client went to ISIS-controlled Syria "got married, kept house and that's it." He said she went out of a religious conviction, "did not contribute to any state-building exercise and did no positive act in favour of Isis." He added: "There is nothing [in the evidence] beyond that she kept house for a man who did not even regard her as a person." Mr O'Higgins said that the Special Criminal Court, which convicted and sentenced Smith, did not give enough regard to the mitigating factors, including that Smit; The Court of Appeal reserved judgment.