Extremists face curbs on movement
More than 200 terror suspects will face a crackdown in response to the London Bridge murders by a jihadist who was freed from prison early despite posing a risk of serious harm to the public.
The Times understand that police, intelligence services and probation chiefs are examining files on 219 known extremists. Some are expected to be banned from large towns and cities.
Like Usman Khan, who murdered Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, at a prison education conference on Friday, 69 of the cases being looked at relate to convicted terrorists freed on licence before the end of their sentences. Another group of 150 includes inmates approaching release and suspects who were arrested under terrorism laws but later convicted of lesser offences and are now free.
The killings by Khan, 28, who deceived the authorities into believing that he had rejected extremism during an eight-year spell in prison, have prompted an assessment of the threat posed by other known jihadists. Two released prisoners have been returned to jail including Nazam Hussain, 34, a friend and accomplice of Khan, who was arrested on Saturday.
Scotland Yard said that Yahya Rashid, 23, had been detained in north London for breaching conditions imposed on him after his release from jail. Whitehall sources said that further recalls to jail were expected this week.
Boris Johnson kept the London Bridge killings at the forefront of the general election campaign yesterday by suggesting that it might not be possible to rehabilitate some terrorists. The prime minister said that the issue of whether extremists could be deradicalised was ‘‘a very profound question’’.
He said: ‘‘There is an issue there that we need to talk about frankly as a society. When we look at some of the problems that we come across in trying to deradicalise people, we have to face the grim reality that in some cases it is really very difficult.’’ Mr Johnson said it was ‘‘pretty obvious’’ that Khan ‘‘was not really a suitable candidate for automatic early release’’.
– The Times