More than 50 terrorist prisoners freed in past year, Home Office reveals

More than 50 terrorist prisoners, including one lifer and another given an indeterminate sentence for public protection, have been freed over the past year, official figures revealed today.

The Home Office statistics show that 53 were released from custody during the 12 months to the end of June.

They included 25 who had received sentences of four years or more as well as 15 more convicts who had been given shorter terms.

The most striking release was of one unnamed prisoner who was let out despite having been given a life sentence. Another who had been jailed indefinitely because of the danger he posed to public safety was also freed.

A total of 12 suspects, who were either on remand or had been not been sentenced for another reason, were also released.

The figures follow the release of another 294 terrorist prisoners over the previous six years and will fuel concerns about sentencing and public safety in the wake of last Friday’s London Bridge murders.

They were carried out by freed terrorist convict Usman Khan, who killed 23-year-old Saskia Jones and 25-year-old Jack Merritt in a knife attack.

Khan had been released automatically last year after eight years in prison despite having initially been sentenced to indefinite detention following his conviction in 2012 for a plot intended to lead to other conspirators attacking the London Stock Exchange.

Ministers have responded by promising tougher sentences, including whole life terms for the most dangerous terrorist conspirators, but have also come under attack for alleged deficiencies in the de-radicalisation work carried out in prisons and by probation services.

Today’s figures on the number of terrorist prisoners being released highlight how police and MI5, who have warned about the unprecedented scale of extremist plotting, are facing added demands because of the “revolving door” allowing jailed extremists back on the streets.

No detail is given about the crimes committed by freed offenders or the measures being taken to ensure that they do not pose a renewed threat, although today’s publication says that “many” will be “subject to meet certain licence conditions”.

The statistics also disclose that there were 224 terrorist prisoners in custody at the end of June, of whom 196 had been convicted. The others were awaiting trial or a sentencing hearing.

Today’s document says that 77 per cent of the prisoners were Islamists, with another 17 per cent having “far-Right” ideologies.

Other figures show that there were 259 terrorist-related arrests during the 12-month period. That is down 20 per cent on the previous year, when the impact of the 2017 terror attacks in London and Manchester pushed detentions to peak levels.

A third of the arrests led to charges, with many of the others being released either without further action or for investigations to continue. Of the 62 suspects charged, 24 had been convicted by the end of June, while 27 more were awaiting prosecution.

Criminal action against five suspects was dropped, while another six cases were described as having some “other outcome” such as extradition.

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