A woman who tried to help Lisa Smith with the teachings of Islam has told her trial she just ‘blindly followed‘ what she was seeing online.
She described the former Irish soldier, who’s accused of being a member of ISIS, as ‘vulnerable and naïve.’
Lisa Smith denies being a member of ISIS between 2015 and 2019 and also denies attempting to finance terrorism.
Carol Karimah Duffy, who converted to Islam over 20 years ago, said she grew up in Dundalk with Lisa, whom she described as ‘very eager‘ when she met her in 2011 to discuss her conversion to the religion.
She pointed out how lifechanging it would be, but she said none of it fazed Lisa. She described her view of Islam as polticised.
She said she wanted to get married straight away and thought it important to push her husband to be a shahid, which is a martyr for the religion.
In an interview with Joe Duffy on Liveline in 2019, Ms Duffy said she 100pc believed Lisa had been radicalised online.
She told the court she believed she was ‘heartbroken‘ when she turned to Islam and believed the man she spoke to online ‘pulled on her heartstrings.’
