Number of women arrested over terror offences hits record high

Senior Political correspondent

THE number of women arrested for terrorist offences has hit an all-time high, figures have revealed, as records show arrests for terrorism have surged by 68 per cent in a year.

Almost double the number of female suspects were arrested on suspicion of being involved in terrorism in the year ending June 2017. The figures also revealed that terror arrests of white people rose by 92 per cent and domestic terror suspects went up five-fold.

A senior detective warned there was no such thing as a “typical terrorist”, after official figures showed rises in numbers detained across all ethnicities and age groups. Overall, the Government statistics show there were 379 arrests for terrorism-related crimes in the UK last year, a rate of more than one a day and the highest number in a year since data collection began in 2001.

The tally includes dozens of individuals held in swoops after attacks in London and Manchester which contributed to domestic terror arrests increasing five-fold in the year.

It follows an admission by the Home Secretary in June that anti-terror police had been over-stretched by a spate of attacks. Amber Rudd ordered an urgent review, adding resources had been “pulled very tightly”.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, said: “There has been a momentum shift since the attacks in London and Manchester and that simply means there are more people out there prepared to attack.”

More than 90 per cent of all offences recorded last year were related to Islamic fundamentalism, while the majority of those arrested considered themselves to be British.

The number of white people involved in terror arrests rose by 92 per cent and the number of people arrested for domestic terror incidents increased fivefold, from 10 to 52. The number of female suspects arrested on suspicion of terror offences rose from 30 in 2016 to 54 in 2017. Female arrests now make up 14 per cent of the total figure.

Of the 379 other arrests, 32 per cent resulted in a charge, while half of those were released without further action.