THIS is the young Oldham mum who has admitted writing a terror leaflet urging people to take part in a violent ‘holy war’ against Western forces.

Shella Roma is the first person in the UK to be convicted of distributing or circulating a terrorist publication after pleading guilty at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday.

The court heard how the 28-year-old gave copies of the document to her husband Amjad Mahmood, 30, so they could be handed out to people leaving a mosque in Cambridge Street, Oldham, between October 2007 and January last year.

But it was when Roma, of Chester Street, Werneth, sent the document to a printing firm to be copied for wider distribution that her plan faltered.

Staff at the shop in Ashton-under-Lyne were so alarmed at the content of the leaflet, they immediately contacted the police.

The document was an eight-page essay titled The Call containing theological, political and historical commentary. It mentioned the 9/11 attacks and the war on terror asking, "Will you go to Jihad (holy war)?"

Following an investigation the Oldham pair were arrested in February last year and charged with disseminating a terrorist publication under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

The charge against Amjad Mahmood was ordered to lie on the file after the court ruled it was not in the public interest to conduct a trial against him following his wife’s guilty plea.

The court was told Roma had said all along that she was the driving force in the plan, having written the document and arranged for the leaflet to be copied.

Mum-of-one Roma, who suffers from a dissociative personality disorder, appeared to fall asleep during the hearing, but said she had merely been "resting her eyes" when the judge commented upon it. In defence, Thomas Bayliss QC said that while her mental state did not mean she was unfit to be tried in court or intellectually deficient, Roma had been manifesting symptoms of the personality disorder since 2005.

Prosecuting, Mr Jonathan Sharp said: "Shella Roma is the prime mover in this case, and that has always been the crown’s position."

He added: "As far as Amjad Mahmood is concerned, there is evidence in support of the indictment."

But he said the Crown Prosecution Service had agreed not to insist on a trial against him.

Judge Clement Goldstone QC said that he would order the charge to lie on the file, but that it could be revisited if Mahmood were to be accused of anything similar in the future.

He adjourned the case until March 20 so that psychiatric reports could be carried out on Roma before sentencing.