Record number of terrorists behind bars

Telegraph

a day ago

The number of terrorist prisoners has reached a record level amid a growing concern over Islamist gang violence in jails in England and Wales.
Some 266 people convicted of terror-related offences were held in jails across England and Wales at the end of March 2025, 20 prisoners more than in 2024.
That is the highest number since records began and nearly three times the number incarcerated a decade ago.
Of these, nearly two thirds (61 per cent) were classed as Islamist extremists, 30 per cent identified as 'extreme Right-wing', and the remaining 9 per cent holding beliefs in other ideologies.
The figures follow a series of violent attacks on prison officers, including by Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, who is serving life for his role in the murder of 22 people.
Abedi inflicted serious injuries on three officers in a separation unit in the high security HMP Frankland jail in County Durham when he attacked them with two home-made knives and boiling cooking oil.
In May, Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer, allegedly threw boiling water over an officer at the high security HMP Belmarsh prison in south London.
Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terror legislation, is conducting a review on whether there should be a tougher regime for segregating Islamist and other dangerous prisoners.
There are three separation units in prisons in England and Wales that were introduced to hold Islamist prisoners to prevent them radicalising other inmates. But they only have spaces for 28 offenders, which are currently under-used.
Prison officers have warned of the rising gang tensions between Islamists and other inmates.
The number of Muslim prisoners involved in attacks on officers has more than doubled in four years to nearly eight a day, official figures revealed.
The data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), published in the wake of the stabbing of three officers by Abedi, showed there were 2,916 attacks on staff by Muslim prisoners in 2024, up from 1,393 in 2020.
Ghaffar Hussain, a former officer in the Prevent counter-terrorism programme, said: 'Overcrowding, understaffing and resulting stress create an environment where radical ideologies can thrive. Islamist gangs exploit these conditions, offering protection and a sense of belonging to vulnerable inmates.
'The rise in Muslim inmate numbers, driven by both sentencing and conversions, has been linked to the influence of these gangs. The erosion of authority within prisons allows these groups to enforce their own rules, sometimes through makeshift Sharia courts.
'Staff intimidation and corruption make the problem worse, with some wardens bribed to smuggle contraband or overlook illegal behaviour.'
A 2023 report by the terrorism watchdog said the prison service had failed to recognise the dangers Islamist gangs posed in prisons.
It added that prison staff were so concerned with being labelled as racist that Muslim terrorists had been able to seize control of wings and set up sharia courts behind bars.
One in five terror suspects in England and Wales were under the age of 18, figures showed, confirming the growing threat of children being radicalised on the internet by the wide availability of terror and extremist material.
In December, the Five Eyes security alliance of Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand called for a 'whole society response' to the threat of the radicalisation of children towards violent extremism.
A record 3,026 children aged under 15, including nearly 300 under 10, were referred to Prevent last year.