A former teacher accused of wanting to share her extremist views with British children through a “cartoon-style” book has denied being a terrorist while giving evidence in court.

Dzhamilya Timaeva, 20, from Windsor, Berkshire, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of sharing extreme Islamic propaganda between 2022 and 2023.

The prosecution says she sought extremist books and videos and obtained a place as a teacher at an Islamic Sunday school to teach young children extremist beliefs.

Jurors heard previously that “pro-Isis (Islamic State) propaganda” was uncovered by police after her phone was seized and the contents downloaded in October 2022.

Police uncovered a document entitled the Little Muwahideen, with a colourful cartoon-style front cover designed for children, the court was told.

The book made reference to “fitna”, meaning strife, and included sections on waging war for Islam, it was alleged.

In September 2022, Timaeva had been making arrangements to teach a class of children at an Islamic faith school and made reference to the booklet in planned lessons, the court was told.

Giving evidence on Monday, Timaeva, who now works as a dental nurse, told jurors she was born in Kazakhstan to Chechen parents who left their home country before she was born because of the war with Russia.

The family tried to seek asylum in various European countries until they came to the UK in 2013, gaining refugee status in 2019 after a six-year asylum process.

Asked to explain her understanding of the conflict in Chechnya which prompted her parents to leave, Timaeva said Russia invaded after the country “persisted” in its call for independence after the dissolution of the USSR.

She told jurors she felt “very strongly” about the conflicts in her homeland, explaining her father fought as a teenager and was tortured. She called the war an “ethnic genocide” which has left an “open wound” on her heart.

Ed Butler, defending, made reference to exchanges Timaeva had with a close friend in which they used the word “jihad”.

Asked what she was talking about when she used the word, the defendant said: “The context was the war back home.”

She explained the different meanings of jihad of which “fighting” only applied to one – physical jihad.

“Physical jihad is waged as defence,” the 20-year-old said, adding that if a land was invaded and Muslims were under threat then jihad by fighting would be “permissible”.

“I have an understanding of this jihad in the context of the country that I’m from, in the context of Russia’s invasion of our country,” she said.

“I believe the men who were fighting for our country were fighting jihad.”

She said she would not categorise 9/11, the 2015 Paris attacks or the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 as jihad.

Timaeva denied being a supporter of the so-called Islamic State group and said she disagreed with attacks by the group.

She denied being a violent or aggressive person and said she had no plans to fight or die as a young person, or to encourage others to do so.

Mr Butler asked her: “Are you a terrorist?”

She said: “No.”

“How do you feel about the concept of going out and committing terrorist crimes and atrocities?” the barrister went on.

Timaeva replied: “I don’t believe it’s permissible.”

She said she does not plan to harm or kill people and does not encourage other people to do so.

Timaeva denies four counts of dissemination of terrorist publications including Little Muwahideen and possessing a video for terrorist purposes entitled Incite The Believers.

The trial continues on Tuesday.