Child under 9 probed as potential terrorist

A CHILD under nine is among 23 youngsters reported to police in Scotland amid fears they are potential terrorists.

Teachers have been trained to spot signs of extremist views and radicalisation under the UK Government’s Prevent scheme, introduced in April 2015.

The primary pupil is one of 131 people referred across Scotland since the initiative’s launch.

More than 60 per cent of those deemed at risk of being radicalised were under 19 – with 23 younger than 14, figures reveal.

Police say a number of those referred were planning to fight for groups such as IS in Syria.

Research published yesterday by the Times Educational Supplement showed one in eight referrals – a total of 16 – were made by schools, while universities and colleges raised concerns on four occasions.

Sam Westrop, director of the Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch Project, said: ‘Young people are being more exposed than ever to radical propaganda, whether this is from Islamists, the far-Right, Marxist terror or the IRA.’

Of the 131 Prevent referrals in Scotland, 85 were sparked by concerns about ‘ideology’.

The rest involved people whose behaviour and beliefs were exacerbated by factors such as mental health issues.

Prevent has been dogged by controversy, with Islamic groups claiming the scheme unfairly ‘stigmatises’ their community.

But Chief Inspector Martin Black, Police Scotland’s Prevent lead, said: ‘There are many good stories about those individuals who we have stopped from travelling to Syria.’

Those referred are offered mentoring and diversionary activities such as sport.

But a Scottish Tory spokesman warned: ‘Although it’s important to discover those linked with terrorist activity at an early stage, we must avoid a situation in which youngsters are being wrongly accused.’

The Scottish Government said its delivery achieved ‘a balanced and proportionate approach to safeguarding vulnerable individuals from radicalisation’.