Wave of terrorists due to be released
More than a dozen jihadi terrorists are due to be freed early from prison in Britain within months as ministers worked yesterday to introduce emergency legislation to keep them behind bars.
The Government promised new laws in the wake of Monday’s knife attack in south London by Sudesh Amman, a convicted terrorist who had been released half way through his sentence just days before.
It was the second terrorist attack in London by a freed prisoner in just over two months.
Those set for early release include Jamshed Javeed, jailed for six years for trying to join Isis in Syria and fight for Isis, and Moinul Abedin, described as Britain’s first al Qaeda-inspired terrorist after being convicted of making detonators at his home in Birmingham.
The analysis by the think tank Henry Jackson Society also identifies Mohammed Ghani as due for imminent release. He was jailed for terror offences after threatening to kill police officers, and was already going through a government deradicalisation programme when he was arrested.
Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, told MPs yesterday that the ‘‘appalling incident made the case for immediate action’’ and announced the ending of automatic release of terrorists who had served half their sentences.
Instead, terrorists would serve a minimum two-thirds of their sentence before being considered for release and none would be let out before the end of a full custodial sentence without the agreement of the Parole Board.
The attempt to retrospectively force terrorist prisoners to spend longer in jail will be fiercely contested and lawyers expected any legal change to be overturned in the courts.
Geoffrey Robertson QC described it as ‘‘panic legislation’’, while Dominic Grieve QC, the former attorney general and former chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, said: ‘‘I don’t think that retrospectively you can change the law for prisoners already in jail. It is rather problematic.’’
The emergency legislation was condemned by the Law Society, which said releasing prisoners at the end of a sentence with no supervision might pose a greater risk than those freed half way but subject to strict licence conditions and supervision in bail hostels.
Dr Paul Stott, research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, welcomed the emergency legislation, saying the imminent release of so many jihadists was ‘‘deeply concerning’’. He added the issue of young men being radicalised in jail also needed urgent addressing.
Authorities were powerless to prevent Amman’s release from Belmarsh prison on January 23, one week before he rampaged down Streatham High Road, stabbing two people before being shot
dead by armed officers who were keeping him under surveillance.
It emerged yesterday that Amman was judged so dangerous by MI5 and counter-terrorism police that in the days before the attack an armed police team was assigned to keep watch.
Only a few terrorists are considered to pose such a risk that they merit such monitoring, placing Amman as one of the five most dangerous terror suspects prior to the attack. As a consequence, he was shot within 60 seconds of entering a shop where he stole his weapon. – Telegraph Group