Record 42 kids arrested for terror-related offences in past year

DOZENS of kids were arrested for terror offences last year, “alarming” stats show.

A record 42 children were among the 219 people held by cops on suspicion of terrorist-related crimes.

It sparked warnings that youngsters were becoming increasingly vulnerable to online radicalisation. 

Home Office figures revealed a 31 per cent rise in the total number of terror-related arrests in 2023.

The 219 arrests are the most since 2019 but fewer than the peak in 2017 - the year of the Westminster, Manchester Arena and London Bridge attacks - when 467 were made.

Of this, 61 people were charged, 98 were bailed under investigation, 46 were released without charge, 12 faced alternative action and two have a decision pending.

Nearly half of those arrested were white, while 34 per cent were Asian.

British nationals have accounted for 62.9 per cent of all arrests since September 2001 when records began. 

There are 244 prisoners currently behind bars for terrorist offences.
Around 65 per cent are locked up for Islamist extremist views, while 26 per cent hold extreme right-wing ideologies.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described the rise in child terror arrests as shocking.

She said: “These alarming figures show that more children than ever are being arrested for terror offences, and they come after years of warnings about the growing risk of online radicalisation.

“The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism has made clear that this reflects a deeper problem about isolated individuals and 'malign online spaces', yet over many years the government’s response to new online threats has been too weak and too slow."

A government spokesman said: "Our police and intelligence agencies continue their tireless work to keep us all safe from the evolving threat of terrorism.

“We are committed to giving them all the necessary tools to do this. That is why we have bolstered powers for those protecting us and introduced tougher sentences for the most dangerous terrorists.”