THE NUMBER of UK prisoners convicted of terror offences in British jails has risen by 75% in the past three years according to a new government report.
The Ministry of Justice said that there had been a “75% increase in prisoners convicted of terrorism-related offences in the last three years, resulting from the Government’s unprecedented action to counter extremism, radicalisation and terrorism.”
“With 700 prisoners considered a risk due to their extremist views, and foreign fighters returning from Syria and Iraq hardened and dangerous, the Government is meeting the challenge of confronting and countering the spread of poisonous ideology within prisons.”
The report added that the Government had “significantly increased resources to tackle extremism in prisons, appointing 100 counter-terrorism specialists and training up more than 13,000 frontline staff to ensure they can identify, report and tackle extremist behaviour in all its forms.”
Justice Secretary David Gauke said: “As a result of the Government’s unprecedented action to protect the public from extremists, we have seen a 75 per cent rise in terrorism-related prisoners over the last three years.
That means we need to do more than ever before to confront and counter the threat, including the spread of all forms of poisonous ideology within prisons – and we are meeting that challenge.
With thousands of prison staff now trained to deal with extremism, an enhanced intelligence capability and separation centres for the most subversive prisoners, we are well equipped to deal with this threat.”
