Record numbers of children are now being arrested as terror suspects, shock new Home Office figures reveal
A record number of children are being arrested as terror suspects, new Home Office figures have revealed.
A record number of children are being arrested as terror suspects, new Home Office figures have revealed.
Police detained 242 people on suspicion of terror offences in the year to June, of which 17% (40) were aged 17 and under.
This is up 60% from the 25 detained in the previous 12-month period and is the highest number since records began more than 20 years ago, when just two children were arrested in the year to June 2002.
It means children are now the second largest age category for suspects being arrested for terrorism.
The figures come after the Metropolitan Police warned it was seeing increasing numbers of young teenagers being radicalised, with some even being found planning terrorist attacks, after consuming violent, hateful and racist material online.
Terror watchdog Jonathan Hall KC described the number of youngsters being detained as remaining stubbornly high.
Police detained 242 people on suspicion of terror offences in the year to June, of which 17% (40) were aged 17 and under (file image)
Terror watchdog Jonathan Hall KC (pictured) described the number of youngsters being detained as remaining stubbornly high
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the independent reviewer of terrorist legislation added: The phenomenon of suspected child terrorism remains a shock and is certainly driven by conduct online.
The statistics, published on Thursday, also showed how the number of terrorists behind bars was rising and record numbers held right-wing views.
The proportion of terrorist inmates holding Islamist-extremist views had remained at similar levels to the last few years while those categorised as having an extreme right-wing ideology has risen to its highest level since these records began in 2013.
As of the end of June, there were 252 people in custody for terrorism-related offences in Britain, compared to 234 in the same period last year.
Of these, 63% (158) were classed as Islamist-extremist and 29% (72) of terrorist prisoners were recorded as holding extreme right-wing views, in contrast to just six held in the same period in 2013.
The latest figures show 9% (22) of terrorist prisoners were not classified as having a specific ideology - also at its highest level.
MI5 director general Ken McCallum previously said terrorism inspired by Islamist ideology still accounted for about three-quarters of the security agencys terrorist caseload.
But he warned that extreme right-wing terrorism was sadly here to stay as he told how agents had been investigating teenagers as young as 13.
The latest statistics come after record numbers of children were revealed to have been reported to the Governments anti-extremism services for expressing far right ideology.
The force warned that this issue had got worse throughout the pandemic and there is no doubt that there has been a knock-on effect from the increased amount of time youngsters spent online during lockdown.
Luke Skelton, 20, a far-right extremist, wrote the Reactionary British Manifesto and was jailed for four years in July
Daniel Harris, a teenage Neo-Nazi who was able to inspire gun massacres by white supremacists in the US despite being under supervision by probation officer
More than 2,100 under-15s were referred to Prevent in 2022/23 over fears they were being groomed by extremists or at risk of radicalisation.
Of them, 462 expressed extreme right wing ideologies compared with 182 Islamist referrals. Eighty-eight were flagged over their interest in school massacres, with six suspected incels also on the list.
Prevent, ran by the Home Office, aims to stop terror attacks on British streets. Officials work with local authorities and community organisations to support and protect vulnerable people.
But the flagship £49million-a-year scheme has faced huge criticism over its failures in spotting Islamist terror sympathisers, including those with links to notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary.
Critics, including ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman, accused it of pandering to political correctness and trying not to appear to be Islamophobic.
Sir William wrote: It is correct for Prevent to be increasingly concerned about the growing threat from the Extreme Right. But the facts clearly demonstrate that the most lethal threat in the last 20 years has come from Islamism, and this threat continues.
Officials describe Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism (ERWT) as using violence to further aims. Such ideologies can be broadly characterised as Cultural Nationalism, White Nationalism and White Supremacism, the Home Office says.
Many of the referrals and reports came from schools where children were identified as being at risk of radicalisation as a result of their extremist views, often associated with expressing hate speech involving racism, homophobia or anti-Semitic abuse.
Thomas Mair, 57, was inspired by white supremacism to murder MP Jo Cox ahead of the 2016 Brexit referendum claiming Britain first, this is for Britain
Jo Cox, pictured was shot and stabbed by Mair on her way to a constituency surgery, meeting local residents of Bately and Spen
Expressing sympathy or admiration for the likes of Adolf Hitler or praising extremists would be enough to risk being flagged to Prevent if overheard by a teacher, social worker or even work colleague.
The latest crackdown on extremism comes after the riots that broke out across England following the stabbing of three girls in Southport
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) confirmed that, as of August 30, 2024, 1,280 people had been arrested for their involvement, with 796 people charged
A Home Office spokesperson said: Extremism is an evolving threat, which threatens our democratic values and freedoms. Government is determined to take every possible step to tackle it and show it has no place in our society.
This wholesale sprint will assess the challenge facing our country and set out steps to ensure we are able to meet it head on.
