Latest news with #MattJukes
BBC News
09-07-2025
- BBC News
London's anti-social behaviour hotspots named by Met Police
More than 30 locations in London have been named by the Metropolitan Police as the most likely to attract anti-social behaviour (ASB), theft and street mayor of London's office said increased police patrols would be at hotspots over the summer, with intelligence-led plain-clothed officers to target prolific is part of the Home Office's national Safer Streets Summer Initiative running from 30 June until the end of Commissioner for the Met, Matt Jukes, said the force was tackling "the crimes that matter most to Londoners". The identified town centre and high street locations include Stratford, Woolwich town centre, Finsbury Park, Croydon town centre, Shepherds Bush Green, Elephant and Castle, Seven Sisters and the West will be a multi-agency operation by the Met, the mayor's office for policing and crime (MOPAC), local authorities and community Hannah Wadey from business crime prevention body the Safer Business Network said when people felt safe, town centres thrived. According to the Met, the force has solved 163% more cases of shoplifting in the first six weeks of this financial year compared to added that theft from a person was down by 15.6% and personal robbery down by 12.8% over the same period. Deputy mayor for policing and crime, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, said: "The safety of our town centres is more than just policing – it's about building stronger, more connected communities where everyone feels secure. Of the 32 town centres and high street locations named as experiencing the highest levels of ASB, theft and street crime, the top 20 were: Barking Town CentreBrixton Town CentreCamden TownCatford – Lewisham High StreetCroydon Town CentreEaling Town CentreElephant and CastleFinsbury ParkWoolwich Town CentreIlford Town CentreKingston Town CentreRomford Town CentreSeven SistersShepherds Bush GreenShoreditch Town CentreSilver StreetStratfordWalthamstowWest EndWhitechapel
Telegraph
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Britain must finally proscribe the IRGC
The arrest of eight people allegedly associated with an Iranian-directed terror plot is further evidence of the malign intentions of Tehran. Police feared that a potential attack was just hours away when they moved in on homes in London, Manchester and Swindon. While their inquiries continue it is not yet known what was being planned or whether others were involved. But what we do know is that Iran is involved in targeting dissidents and critics around the world, with even Donald Trump reportedly on the list of its assassins. Matt Jukes, the head of Counter Terror Policing, warned in August that Iranian diaspora communities were 'clearly at risk of kidnapping or assassination'. He disclosed that since 2020, police and MI5 have responded to 15 plots backed by Iran. In March last year, Pouria Zeraati, an Iranian journalist, was stabbed outside his London home by mercenaries hired from Eastern Europe by Tehran. In 2022, two British-Iranian broadcasters were warned of a possible risk to their lives and armed police were stationed outside the channel's studios. This latest episode may have involved another attack on dissidents or a wider threat to the country but it raises the same question: why are we putting up with this proxy terror war on our soil? These activities are organised by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which is banned in many countries but not here. Sanctions were imposed on several IRGC commanders last year after they were exposed in a TV investigation into an assassination plot. Yet the Government continues to resist calls to proscribe the IRGC even though the Home Office wanted it added to a list of banned terrorist argument is that maintaining some links offers a 'back channel' to Tehran considered important in times of tension. But as evidence grows of the impact of the IRGC's activities on the security of this country and to exiled critics of the Iranian regime, this obduracy is increasingly hard to justify. The IRGC and its intelligence agency have been placed in the highest category of a new foreign influence register while Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, is looking at a new 'proscription mechanism' for hostile states like Iran. But why would that work any better than the current ban on terrorist groups, which the IRGC most assuredly is? The time has come for the Government to show that it is treating the Iranian threat with due seriousness.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Britain must finally proscribe the IRGC
The arrest of eight people allegedly associated with an Iranian-directed terror plot is further evidence of the malign intentions of Tehran. Police feared that a potential attack was just hours away when they moved in on homes in London, Manchester and Swindon. While their inquiries continue it is not yet known what was being planned or whether others were involved. But what we do know is that Iran is involved in targeting dissidents and critics around the world, with even Donald Trump reportedly on the list of its assassins. Matt Jukes, the head of Counter Terror Policing, warned in August that Iranian diaspora communities were 'clearly at risk of kidnapping or assassination'. He disclosed that since 2020, police and MI5 have responded to 15 plots backed by Iran. In March last year, Pouria Zeraati, an Iranian journalist, was stabbed outside his London home by mercenaries hired from Eastern Europe by Tehran. In 2022, two British-Iranian broadcasters were warned of a possible risk to their lives and armed police were stationed outside the channel's studios. This latest episode may have involved another attack on dissidents or a wider threat to the country but it raises the same question: why are we putting up with this proxy terror war on our soil?These activities are organised by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which is banned in many countries but not here. Sanctions were imposed on several IRGC commanders last year after they were exposed in a TV investigation into an assassination plot. Yet the Government continues to resist calls to proscribe the IRGC even though the Home Office wanted it added to a list of banned terrorist argument is that maintaining some links offers a 'back channel' to Tehran considered important in times of tension. But as evidence grows of the impact of the IRGC's activities on the security of this country and to exiled critics of the Iranian regime, this obduracy is increasingly hard to justify. The IRGC and its intelligence agency have been placed in the highest category of a new foreign influence register while Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, is looking at a new 'proscription mechanism' for hostile states like Iran. But why would that work any better than the current ban on terrorist groups, which the IRGC most assuredly is? The time has come for the Government to show that it is treating the Iranian threat with due seriousness. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Guardian
12-04-2025
- The Guardian
Misogynistic content driving UK boys to hunt vulnerable girls on suicide forums
Young men and boys fuelled by 'strongly misogynistic' online material are hunting for vulnerable women and girls to exploit on websites such as eating disorder and suicide forums, senior officers have said. The threat from young males wanting to carry out serious harm is so serious that counter-terrorism officers are joining the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the hunt for them, fearing they could go on to attack or kill. Britain's head of counter-terrorism, Matt Jukes, told the Guardian that a joint taskforce would be set up between his force and the NCA to tackle those fixated with violence online, in what he called a 'decisive moment'. Jukes, the Metropolitan police force's assistant commissioner for specialist operations, said the new pairing would look for those consuming online material about killings or sexual abuse. Those who might go on to plot school shootings and other mass attacks, as well as those who encouraged women and girls to harm themselves, would also fall under their remit. The new taskforce will also tackle so-called com networks (online communities), which counter-terrorism policing (CTP) and the NCA said involved hundreds of boys and young men. They will also hunt for those viewing material inciting sexual abuse. The decision to pool the efforts of CTP and the NCA is being driven by the fear that it might be impossible to tell whether an obsession with violence and gore could turn into terrorism, a school massacre or other serious attack until it was too late. Jukes, who is expected to be a candidate for the deputy commissionership of the Met, said: 'What we've seen over the years is the characteristics of those cases looking increasingly similar.' Com networks grew sixfold between 2022 and 2024 and are mainly young males joining together online to carry out hacking exercises and hunt for victims to steer into sexual abuse or worse. James Babbage, the director general of threats for the NCA, said com networks were believed to have hundreds of people in the UK alone. 'We think they're mostly doing it for kudos, for notoriety … within their peer group online,' he said. 'In general, they are looking for victims who are already vulnerable. So they are looking at sort of suicidal ideation sites. They're looking at eating disorders forums.' Jukes said: 'Young people who might have felt very isolated in some of their ideas and interests might never even have thought of some of the things which they're now accessing … so people are getting both content and validation. 'We're going to go after the com networks. We are going to go after those who appear to be administrating and facilitating them.' The boost to the hunt for potentially violent young males comes after the Guardian revealed that the Southport attacker who murdered three girls at a dance class last July had been referred and rejected three times by the Prevent programme. Prevent exists to identify those at risk of supporting terrorist violence. The Southport attacker had shown insufficient signs of ideological extremism but did have an interest in violence, including school massacres. Babbage said: 'The violence-fixated individuals that are coming up on the radar for terrorism policing, the tech-enabled violence against women and girls that police are seeing and the com networks that we're seeing engaged in child sexual abuse and cybercrime – to some degree, this sort of young male community, it's sort of the same threat. 'People are spinning up and radicalising and getting into more extreme harm, and might spin out and end up presenting as any one of those things.' The material driving the young males to view horrific material and to potentially offend 'has a very significant dose of misogyny in it', Babbage added. Jukes said the internet had 'turbocharged' material triggering resentment among some young men: 'In com networks and in terrorist networks, the idea that the interests of men and boys have been relegated, and the interests of women have been elevated, leads directly to violent misogyny.' He said there were 'technological and engineering' solutions to the crisis, and that big tech could help by stopping the algorithms pushing extreme content to youngpeople who wanted it. They could also aid police in helping to detect young people searching for violent content. Jukes added: 'The scale we're talking about is beyond human intervention. There are too many users, too much traffic.' In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at
The Independent
06-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Harm of social media for children ‘like cancer risk of smoking'
Britain's head of counter-terrorism policing has called for Parliament to 'explore' implementing age verification on social media sites as he compared the harm caused by social media to the 'cancer' caused by smoking. Giving evidence to The Times Crime and Justice Commission – a year-long project considering the most urgent problems facing police, prisons, courts and victims – Matt Jukes said his team had discussed a ban on social media use by children with colleagues in Australia, which passed world-first legislation on the issue last year. Mr Jukes said the UK could not afford to delay taking serious action on the negative impacts of social media. We are going to need to move forward with online safety in a way which is at a pace with a rigour, with determination, which we've not yet been able to achieve internationally Matt Jukes 'If I give you a parallel with the harm caused by smoking, by 1950, it was clear that smoking was causing lung cancer and killing people,' he said. 'But it took decades for governments to decide to regulate, not even the supply of tobacco more closely, but even just the advertising of tobacco to young people in places where young people could see it.' Mr Jukes added the 'cancer' of dangerous online content 'which is driving violence is in our communities and in the lives of young people now'. Asked if he supported Australia's decision to ban children under 16 from using social media, Mr Jukes said: 'We have spoken to Australian colleagues about that. It hasn't happened yet. We don't understand its effect. But I think it warrants serious attention. 'I think those things which are in Australia definitely warrant our attention, should be explored.' While Mr Jukes credited Parliament for passing the Online Safety Act, he said it may need to be strengthened to require platforms to police private messages. 'We are going to need to move forward with online safety in a way which is at a pace with a rigor, with determination, which we've not yet been able to achieve internationally,' he said. 'That means revisiting the Online Safety Act, looking at the question of whether it can be extended to private communications and the responsibility of platforms who provide private messaging as well as publishing.' His comments come after it was revealed that Southport killer Axel Rudakubana watched violent and extremist videos online prior to killing three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year. A review into the handling of Rudakubana under the Government's counter-terrorism programme Prevent found there was an 'under-exploration' of the significance of the 18-year-old's repeat referrals, including his history of violence. The teenager attacked a pupil with a hockey stick, used school computers to look up the London Bridge terror outrage and carried a knife on a bus and into class before he carried out the Southport murders. The review found Rudakubana's research of school shootings, talking about stabbing people and saying the terrorist attack on 'MEN', believed to refer to the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, 'may have shown a real interest in terrorism'.
