Al-Qaeda inspired student who stabbed Labour MP can be freed from prison
A student who tried to murder Labour minister Stephen Timms after being radicalised online has been cleared for release from prison. Roshonara Choudhry, then 21, was jailed for life for a minimum of 15 years for stabbing Sir Stephen twice in the stomach in 2010.
The attack on the now social security minister is thought to be the first al Qaida-inspired attempt to assassinate a politician on British soil. Mr Timms, 69, has revealed Choudhry had written to him several times from jail. In a previous interview, he explained: "In the third of them, she says she's sorry about what happened.
" So we're in a restorative justice process which may lead to me meeting her before she's released. I'd welcome that." Weeks before the attack on May 14, 2010, Choudhry had quit her English degree course at King's College London, where she had been expected to get a first.
She became radicalised after watching online sermons by terror preachers and decided to kill Sir Stephen because he supported the Iraq war. The student knifed her local MP as he held a constituency surgery at the Beckton Globe community centre in east London.
Choudhry smiled and pretended she was going to shake hands with him before repeatedly plunging the blade into her victim. After she was arrested she told detectives the stabbing was "punishment" and "to get revenge for the people of Iraq". But after a Parole Board hearing last month, a panel decided she could be freed from jail.
A decision summary said: "After considering the circumstances of her offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing and in the dossier, the panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public." The document said that at the time of the attempted murder, Choudhry, now 36, had risk factors of problems with family relationships, development of extreme beliefs and willingness to use violence to address perceived injustices.
But she had engaged in programmes in prison to understand how her extreme beliefs developed and her conduct was described as "exemplary". The summary added: "Ms Choudhry was assessed as having shown a very high level of insight and understanding of herself.
"She had consistently shown over many years that she no longer held the same beliefs, that she was able to manage her emotional wellbeing effectively and she would no longer be likely to be influenced by other people with strong negative views, having developed the ability to critically evaluate information and to seek help from professionals if she needs it."
The document said the panel did not receive a victim impact statement, or representations from the justice secretary. It was recommended that Choudhry be released on licence under conditions such as living at a designated address, with a specific curfew and subject to an exclusion zone to avoid contact with Sir Stephen.
A Parole Board spokesman said: "Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
"Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority."
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