No evidence that longer sentences will deter terrorists

Jonathan Hall QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, has warned that there is ‘no evidence’ that jailing terrorists for longer will deter them from planning terror attacks.

The law change is among measures in the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act, which came into force in April. However, Hall said it was unlikely that extremists plotting to kill multiple victims would be swayed by the prospect of a new 14-year minimum term.

He has objected to proposed guidelines from a Sentencing Council consultation on how to implement the new law stating that courts must ‘not undermine the intention of Parliament and the deterrent purpose of the provisions’.

In his response Hall wrote: “There is no evidence that the serious terrorism sentence provisions have a deterrent purpose and given the cohort of offenders in question - terrorist offenders who have risked multiple deaths - it is highly unlikely that they will be deterred by the prospect of a statutory minimum term of 14 years. It is much more likely that the provisions have an incapacitative purpose, by ensuring that offenders are held in prison for longer.”

Hall is currently undertaking a review of terror offences committed inside British prisons, amid concerns over networking and radicalisation behind bars.