World

Report: British Authorities Checked Up On Suspected Terrorists Less Than In The Past

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
Font Size:

Although authorities in the UK saw the numbers of potential terrorists they monitor grow to almost 3,500, a new report shows law enforcement is not checking and detaining as many suspected individuals as they had in the past, the UK Express reports.

The numbers were released in the wake of the terrorist attack that killed 19 and injured 59 outside an exit venue of the Manchester Arena during an Arianna Grande concert Monday night. The attack is the worst on British soil since 56 people were killed in the 7/7 bombings in 2005.

The growth of potential jihadists is reportedly due to native-born Britons who left the country to fight with ISIS in Iraq and Syria and around 400 are believed to have returned to the UK.

Statistics from a quarterly Home Office report, the UK Express notes, show that though the country is on red alert, the number of arrests, stops and searches, and examinations of suspected terrorists at ports and airports fell 8 percent (260 terror-related arrests) in 2016. In 2015, authorities made 282 terror-related arrests.

The report also says that law enforcement’s interviewing of individuals entering and exiting at ports, airports, international rail stations and the border regions plunged by 30 per cent in 2016 as opposed to 2015.

In 2016, 13 percent of the terror-related arrests of those suspected of planning attacks in the U.K. spiked 5 percent since 2015.

“Of the 260 arrests for terrorism-related offences in the year ending 31 December 2016, 96 had resulted in a charge by January 16 2017 (79 terrorism-related and 17 non-terrorism-related),” the report stated.

It went on to say. “In 68 cases, the individual had been released without charge; in a further 90 cases, the arrestee was released on bail pending further investigation.”

Follow Kerry on Twitter