Public at risk as 29 terrorists to be freed
TWENTY-NINE terrorists are due to be released from prison within the next three years, with 11 of them back on the streets before April and three released by September.
It means the security services will be put under huge pressure monitoring the newly released danger men.
Once freed, these extremists are subject to security measures in a bid to stop them radicalising others or going on the rampage themselves.
But the difficulties surrounding the issue were highlighted by two recent atrocities in London, carried out by recently released prisoners.
Usman Khan killed two people, Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones, in a knife attack at Fishmongers’ Hall, on London Bridge, last November. Khan, 28, was released from prison a year before the attack after serving half a 16-year sentence for being involved in a plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange. He was tagged and had been attending an offender rehabilitation conference.
Khan’s rampage came to an end when he was shot dead by police.
Then five months ago, Sudesh Amman stabbed two people in Streatham, south London, before being shot dead by police. He too had recently been released and was under active surveillance.
The Ministry of Justice data does not name the 29 due to walk free but Jamshed Javeed, jailed for six years for trying to join Isis, and Moinul Abedin – an al-qaeda inspired terrorist who had been making detonators – are both in line for early release. Another due to be freed is Mohammed Khilji, from north-west London, who was sentenced to five years in June 2018 after posting beheading videos on Whatsapp, along with footage giving advice on how to make a car bomb.
Sunderland shopkeeper Mohammed Zahir Khan, jailed for four-anda-half years in 2018 for encouraging acts of terror and inciting religious hatred is due to be considered for release in November.
The MOJ statistics reveal that at the end of March there were 59 prisoners serving sentences for terrorism, more than double the figure two years ago.
Of these, it is expected that 41 could be released before April 2025.
David Spencer, research director at the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “It is deeply worrying that so many convicted terrorists will be coming back on to our streets in the coming months. It is likely that many still pose a risk to the public.
“Terrorists should not be released unless it can be proved beyond reasonable doubt that they are no longer a threat to public safety.”
A Government spokesman said: “We have already changed the law to ensure that terrorists are kept behind bars for longer and cannot be released early unless the Parole Board is satisfied.
“We are protecting the public further by overhauling sentencing and monitoring.”
‘It’s deeply worrying...they may still pose a threat to us’