A hearing to decide whether journalists will be forced to hand over their notes from interviews with “ISIS bride” Shamima Begum has been adjourned in order to find a suitable judge.
Begum was one of three girls from Bethnal Green, east London, who left the UK aged just 15 in February 2015 and travelled to Syria to join Islamic State.
Within days of her arrival she married a Dutch-born ISIS fighter.
She was eventually tracked down while nine months pregnant by Times war correspondent Anthony Lloyd in a refugee camp in northern Syria in February this year.
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She later gave interviews to other media outlets including ITV News and Sky News.
The Metropolitan Police is now seeking a court order under the Terrorism Act 2000 compelling media organisations to hand over their notes from their meetings with Begum.
The case was due to be heard by Mr Justice Sweeney, a High Court judge, at the Old Bailey today but was adjourned after he ruled the case must be first heard by a circuit judge.
The date of the next hearing or who will hear the case has yet to be set.
Lawyers for The Times, Sky News and ITN have instructed legal representation to resist the application.
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