‘Give stiffer sentences for failing to inform on terror’
Terror watchdog says there is no need for new laws, and discretion is needed with returning Isil fighters
Crime Correspondent
PEOPLE who fail to inform the authorities about terrorists should face much stiffer sentences, the terror laws watchdog has suggested. Under current guidelines, someone who does not tell the police when they discover a potential terrorist plot can only be jailed for a maximum of five years.
But Max Hill QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, said the Government should consider giving judges the power to impose much stiffer sentences.
His comments come amid heightened concern over the terror threat following a string of attacks this year in Manchester and London. Mr Hill, who took up his role in February this year, said despite recent attacks there was no need for a raft of new anti-terror laws.
But he said: “With the benefit of experience and hindsight it may be the case that some offences have insufficient discretionary maximum sentences, which should be reviewed.”
Mr Hill also suggested that more discretion should be applied when considering whether to prosecute terror suspects returning from fighting for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and other organisations, particularly if they had been brainwashed. More than 800 British nationals are thought to have travelled to Syria, with less than half returning to the UK.
Mr Hill stressed that anyone found to have committed criminal acts must be prosecuted, but he said there should be room for discretion in other situations.
He said: “In cases which may come to light of individuals who travel to Syria out of naivety or brainwashing and are desperate to return to their friends and families in this country in a state of great disillusionment after their time in Syria – it doesn’t follow that in every case those individuals must be prosecuted or that there must be any mandatory process against them.”
There have been calls for the further use of Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (Tpims), which place restrictions on suspects who cannot be deported or prosecuted.
Six were in place at the end of May, but Mr Hill said it was “conceivable” that the figure might increase, particularly in cases where people returning to the country from Syria could not be placed on trial. He explained: “I don’t see the prospect of very large numbers of returning UK citizens but we are told that there may be some and that’s where, alongside the power to prosecute, the power to place individuals on Tpims should be considered.”
Mr Hill cited the disruption of six plots since Westminster, saying security services’ success rate “must never be forgotten”. Counter-terror agencies have 500 live investigations involving around 3,000 individuals at any time, while there are also 20,000 former “subjects of interest” kept under review.