2,100 under-15s are referred to terror scheme in one year

MORE than 2,000 children and teenagers have been identified as potential Islamist and far-right extremists. Those young people referred to Britain’s flagship Prevent scheme included 500 girls, the Home Office revealed yesterday.

In one case, a boy aged only nine was helped by the counter-radicalisation programme after he declared support for so-called Islamic State.

Children as young as three have also been referred amid fears they were vulnerable to being brainwashed because their families were involved in terrorist activity.

It is the first time detailed statistics of all those flagged up to Prevent have been published by the Home Office.

The programme has been credited with stopping more than 150 Britons travelling to join IS fighters in Syria and Iraq as well as others from joining neo-Nazi groups.

However, the figures showed only 5 per cent of those referred receive specialist support to turn them away from terrorism. A fifth of these drop out so they could go on to pose a risk to the public.

Officials refused to say how many people had committed extremist crimes after completing the programme, which costs £40million a year.

In total, 7,631 people’s names were passed to Prevent in the year to March 2016.

A majority – 4,997 or 65 per cent – had suspected Islamist sympathies while 10 per cent, or 759, were referred over fears of right-wing extremism.

Nearly a third – or 2,127 – were under 15 and more than half were under 20.

Experts warned the figures raised questions about how children and teenagers risked being brainwashed by online extremism such as terror videos on YouTube. Nikita Malik, senior research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society thinktank, said: ‘Children are more susceptible to radical material because they are unable to discern fantasy from reality.

‘If they are being taught radical ideas, they are more likely to trust authority and not question these beliefs.

‘It is therefore extremely important to equip children with the ability to counter radical material, which is what Prevent seeks to do.’

The scheme was set up after the July 7 bombings in 2005 for schools, police, health staff, social workers, faith institutions and families to report concerns. About 14 per cent, or 1,072, of those referred to Prevent in 2015-16 were judged to be at risk of radicalisation, with 381 receiving intensive support on a specialist scheme called Channel.

About 300 who left this voluntary programme were judged to have had their risk of being drawn into terrorism reduced. But 63 refused to co-operate and withdrew.

The number of under-15s in Channel rose from 32 in 2012-13 to 108 in 2015-16.

Prevent and Channel have been criticised, especially by hardline Muslim groups, as toxic and a ‘ Big Brother’ spying operation.

But Security Minister Ben Wallace said the strategy ‘has seen real results in helping divert people from terrorism and violence. It is helping to save lives and keep us safe’.

Simon Cole, the National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman for Prevent, said ‘trust and support is growing’.

But Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey said: ‘Prevent is being dangerously over-used. This data reveals exactly why Prevent has become so toxic.

‘It should be replaced with a system that has community engagement at its heart.’

More up-to- date statistics from the police this year suggested the number of tip-offs jumped as Britain was hit by five terror attacks.