'Jail my jihadist son': British Mother's heartache over Muslim convert son.

Thomas Evans, now known as Abdul Hakim, who has converted to Islam and is now fighting in Somalia after joining the terrorist group al-Shabaab

The mother of a British jihadist who travelled to Somalia to join al-Shabaab said she would rather see him jailed than fighting with the terror group.

Sally Evans from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, says her son Thomas, 24, went to the African country in 2011 after converting to Islam when he was 19.

She says that her greatest fear is that he will become a suicide bomber so tells the police of his activities in the hope he can be jailed before killing innocent people. 

The mother of two, says he first joined the religion after splitting from his long-term girlfriend and she hoped it would have brought an end to his depression.

Sally Evans from High Wycombe whose son, Thomas (in black shirt), has converted to Islam and is fighting with Al Shabab in Somalia. Her other son Micheal is in red

However, she added that after that he then left the local mosque to instead attend an Islamic prayer centre

He then changed his name to Abdul Hakim, gave up on his previous interests and hobbies and even tried to convert his mother and younger brother to Islam.

He grew a beard, shaved his head and also started brushing his teeth using a traditional African tooth twig.

He even refused to eat from the same pans as his family for fear of eating food contaminated with non-halal products.

In June 2011 he went to Egypt saying that he was going to the country to study Arabic and has since tried but unsuccessfully to enter Kenya.

His mother has heard from him on several occasions with the calls making her pleased that he is still alive but remind her that he is now fighting with a terrorist organisation.

She has told the police the content of the phone calls in the hope they can stop others from also joining terror groups.

Ms Evans told the Sunday Times: 'I did tell the police what happened because I have nothing to hide.

'I would rather have Thomas alive behind bars than dead in the middle of nowhere.

'And if he took other lives how do you live with this? If he was a suicide bomber, how would I live with that?'

Ms Evans added that she hardly ever met any of her son's Muslim friends but does remember meeting another convert, Donald Stewart-Whyte.

Mr Stewart-Whyte was the son of a Conservative Party agent but turned his back on his middle class, Methodist upbringing in favour of becoming a Muslim.

He too changed his name, going by Abdul Waheed, grew a beard and started wearing traditional Islamic dress.

He was arrested in 2006 in connection with the liquid bomb plot, which planned to use liquid explosives disguised as soft drinks on planes.

However, he was cleared of any terrorism offences.

It is estimated that around 50 Britons have travelled to Somalia to join al-Shabaab, a terrorist group banned in the UK and U.S., which is thought to be linked to al Qaeda.

They have carried out terrorist attacks in Kenya, including the siege on the Westgate Shopping Centre last year, when 68 people died.