Counter terror experts say waving jihadi flag was not enough to trigger arrest of London Bridge terrorist
DESPITE the London Bridge attacker being caught waving a jihadi flag in a public park this may not have been enough to trigger a full-scale investigation, experts say.
The 27-year-old, identified only as Abz, had also tried to radicalise local children using sweets and was even kicked out of mosques for his concerning views.
RED FLAGS ON HIS RISE TO TERROR ATROCITY:
- Abz appeared on C4's The Jihadis Next Door unfurling a jihadi flag
- He was thrown out of mosque for ranting that voting was “un-Islamic”
- A friend contacted police about him due to concerns - he was quizzed but not arrested and allowed to keep his passport
- He attempted to radicalise children in a nearby park
- He was reported for a demonstration in Regent's Park
Questions are now being asked as to how he was left to the roam the streets and ultimately head up Saturday's van and knife attack in which he and two accomplices killed seven and injured another 48.
Will Geddes, a counter-terror expert and managing director of a security company, said: "This clown was on the radar but it's really difficult job to sift through those.
"There's in excess of 20,000 people and 2,000 of those are actual jihadis.
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"When you consider the security services, what they're doing - and they do a good job - is so bound by privacy, human rights. But these scum bags are exploiting that to their own ends.
"There's got to be some controls in place and I think this guy, Abz, this is one of those characters who was not seen as the greatest threat and wasn't on the highest category."
He added that cops also faced a dilemma of "when do you strike?", which required the consideration of what evidence had been gathered and if it would ensure a successful prosecution.
Stephen White, a former UK police chief in Northern Ireland, told The Sun Online that the red flags raised about Abz may not have been enough to justify a large police probe.
"Is that sufficient? Flying a flag? If Muslims said we're going to get out our black banners in sympathy (with an arrest)... Can the state really handle that?
"If you say you've got one guy with one flag in one incident... Do you immediately act on that? Do you ignore the small things and inevitably some suspects will fall through the net?
"If the figure is true, that there could be thousands of suspects, then some of them are going to be more active than others.
"So it may be simply that there's bigger fish to fry but one thing they shouldn't do is ignore, and this is where people are starting to get concerned."
Despite the fact that supporting proscribed terror organisations is illegal, Abz and his fellow extremists displayed a generic flag of jihad during the Channel 4 documentary, not one specific to ISIS.
Mr White said: "Having evidence that is admissible in court - that is difficult.
"That can only come from witnesses, informers who are prepared to give evidence in court or technical surveillance.
"They're trying to do enough on the big jobs on the top end, as opposed to spending a lot of time on small prosecutions or minor offences.
"And they're trying not to over-react because that feeds into (the terrorists') narrative about community grievances."
Incredibly, reported that police had been monitoring an extremist cell located in the area of Barking raided yesterday since as early as March.
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