Neo-Nazi terror probe: Police arrest three including London teen over 'far-Right plot that suggested Prince Harry should be shot'

Investigation comes as UK arrest figures revealed
A London teenager was among three arrested in the UK
AFP/Getty Images
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A 17-year-old Londoner was arrested today over a suspected far-Right plot by a neo-Nazi group that has branded Prince Harry a “race traitor” who should be shot.

The London teenager was one of three people held as part of a police probe that is understood to be targeting alleged activity by a Neo-Nazi group called Sonnenkrieg Division.

As well as smearing Prince Harry for marrying someone of mixed race, the group has also expressed admiration for the far-Right mass murderer Anders Breivik.

It also posted an image of a woman hanging from a noose with a message that white females who date non-whites should be killed.

Messages uncovered during an earlier media investigation into the group revealed it to have links with far-Right US extremists.

It has shared messages stating that police officers should be raped and killed and called on followers to fill their hearts with hate.

The precise alleged activities that led to today’s arrests are unknown, as is the extent of the involvement of the teenager and the other two men.

Police said, however, that the 17-year-old Londoner was arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism, dissemination of terrorist publications, and conspiracy to inspire racial or religious hatred.

A 21-year-old man from Bath, suspected of possessing material useful to someone preparing an act of terrorism and of conspiracy to incite racial or religious hatred, was also detained.

40

&#13; <p>per cent of terror-related arrests involved white suspects</p>&#13;

So was an 18-year-old male from Portsmouth suspected of encouraging terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications.

Searches at properties in the towns, as well as in buildings in London and Leeds, were continuing this morning as part of the investigation, led by the North East Counter Terrorism Unit. Police said the arrests were “pre-planned and part of an ongoing investigation into extreme Right-wing activity.”

The arrests come as new Home Office figures published today revealed that more white people than Asians were arrested in counter-terrorism operations for the first time since 2010.

The statistics reveal 128 white suspects, 106 Asians and 39 black people were arrested during the 12-month period to the end of September this year. There were also 44 arrests of those defined as “other” ethnicities.

33

&#13; <p>per cent involved Asian suspects</p>&#13;

White suspects accounted for 40 per cent of the overall total of 317 terror-related arrests during the year, while Asians made up 33 per cent.

It appears that part of the reason is likely to be the growing scale of the far-Right threat.

The new statistics also show a rise in the number of children arrested over suspected terror-related offences, with the annual total of 22 arrests up by three.

The proportion of juveniles in the overall number of terror arrests is at an all-time high.

The overall number of terror arrests was down 31 per cent on the record high of the previous year, which included those held after the London and Manchester attacks.

It is still well above the annual average of 254 terror arrests since 2001.

Today’s statistics also reveal that 53 terrorist prisoners were released last year, taking the number freed since 2013 to 294.

Convictions during the year totalled 81 out of 91 people prosecuted. Nine suspects were acquitted and one died.

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