Woman tried to hire ‘hitman’ to kill her husband and make it look like Isis execution

The 'hitman' turned out to be an undercover police officer

Although the most prominent members and leaders of Isis are men, women are the 'glue holding the terror group together' behind the scenes, research has suggested (AP)

A woman attempted to recruit a contract killer to murder her husband and make it look like an Isis execution, a court has been told.

Nurten Taycur, 28, allegedly offered a man £5,000 to kill Uber driver Ercan Akan and spray "Isis" on his car, The Mirror reported, in an attempt to be with her boyfriend after a two-year affair.

She was arrested after handing over a £1,000 "down payment" to a man she reportedly thought was a hitman, whom she had first met near Victoria Park in Hackney, east London on 13 November 2015. The man was in fact an undercover police officer.

The remaining £4,000 was found hidden at her home in Hackney, the Old Bailey heard.

The Sun reported that after her arrest her husband told police: "I don’t understand why Nurten wanted me to be killed – if she wanted to separate she could have done it in the normal way."

Ms Taycur has admitted soliciting to murder and is due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on May 13.