The terrorist is one of the few child criminals in Britain to be granted lifelong anonymity, meaning that upon his release the public will have zero knowledge that a terrorist is living in their midst.
A Parole Board hearing for the convicted terrorist — referred to only as ‘RXG’ — will be held next week, and it is “highly likely” that he will be released on licence, The Mirror reports.
‘RXG’ was handed a “life” sentence with a minimum of five years in prison at Manchester Crown Court in 2015, after pleading guilty to inciting terrorism overseas.
The court heard that he convinced 18-year-old Sevdet Besim to commit mass murder and behead a policeman in Melbourne, Australia during an Anzac Day, an Australian equivalent of Remembrance Sunday or Veterans Day.
The two terrorists would have “in all probability” been successful had British police not uncovered the plot and alerted Australian officials.
When police raided the teenager’s home, they discovered a bomb-making guide, a combat knife, and a flag supporting the Islamic State.
Police said that aside from the plot in Australia, ‘RXG’ had planned to target a police station and town hall in the United Kingdom.
During a hearing on whether to keep the terrorist’s identity anonymous, Mr Justice Saunders argued that there was a danger of ‘RXG’ becoming glorified by certain sectors of society if his identity were to be revealed.
“That glorification is more likely to be effective if he is identified and more likely to encourage others to do what he has done,” Justice Saunders said.
In response to the decision to allow the terrorist to remain anonymous, a research fellow for the anti-extremism think tank the Henry Jackson Society, Dr Paul Stott, said: “The 2019 decision to grant a teenage terrorist lifelong anonymity, despite the objections of the media, was a remarkable decision.”
“The public will rightly be disturbed that a young man considered dangerous enough to be jailed for life in 2015 may be considered for release in April 2020,” Scott added.
“The attack at London Bridge and Sudesh Amman’s in Streatham have proven that we can’t rule out released terrorists going on the rampage again,” he warned, adding: “The interests and concerns of the general public must come first.”
In February, the government passed the Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Bill, which extended the minimum sentence for terrorists to at least two-thirds of determinate sentence, rather than the standard half-term mandated for most criminals.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here: @KurtZindulka
No comments:
Post a Comment