Terror arrests at new high, says Met Police

Last year, terror-related arrests in England, Wales and Scotland reached record levels with 338 people recorded as having been held, Scotland Yard has reported.

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley has said that more than half of those arrests held connections with terrorism in Syria, with police estimating that over 700 potential terror suspects are thought to have travelled to Syria. Rowley also suggested that nearly half of those are now back in the UK.

The number of terror-related arrests was up from 2013/2014 where there was 254 arrests, which equates to an increase of about a third. It is believed that more than 100 people are awaiting trial for terrorism-related charges.

Police have stated concerns of ‘an emerging trend’, as from last years arrests, 56 were related to suspects under the age 20. These arrests were the results of offences ranging from fundraising for extremist causes to plotting terrorist attacks.

Rowley said: “There is no doubt of the horrific nature of the offences being committed overseas. The influence of those who wish to bring similar violence to the streets of the UK has been an increasing threat here.”

Prime Minister David Cameron recently said that he planned new legislation to tackle the spread of extremist views, saying it was designed mainly to confront ‘head-on the poisonous Islamist extremist ideology’.