Most held over terror law are freed

12 April 2012

Less than a fifth of the 1,100 people arrested under anti-terror laws in the UK since 9/11 have been charged with terrorism-related offences, official figures have revealed.

The arrests have led to just 40 convictions under anti-terror legislation, while more than half of those held have been released without any charge at all, according to the statistics.

The Government's official terrorism arrest figures were updated by the Home Office on Monday for the first time in 18 months. The last time the updated figures were published was in September 2005, two months after the July 7 London bombings.

According to the new statistics, on the Home Office website, 1,126 arrests were made under anti-terror laws in the UK - excluding in Northern Ireland - between September 11 2001 and December 31 last year. All of these were under the Terrorism Act 2000.

There were a further 40 arrests under legislation other than the Terrorism Act, where the investigation was conducted as a terrorist investigation. Of the total of 1,166 people arrested, 117 were charged with terrorism offences only while another 104 were charged with terrorism and other criminal offences.

A further 186 were charged with other offences including murder, grievous bodily harm, firearms, explosives offences and fraud, while 74 were handed over to the immigration authorities. Of the others, three are on police bail awaiting charging decisions, 12 were cautioned, 10 dealt with under mental health legislation and two remanded in custody awaiting extradition proceedings.

More than half - 652 - were released without charge. Of those charged, there have been 40 Terrorism Act convictions, with a further 180 people convicted under other legislation. A total of 98 are on, or still awaiting, trial.

The Home Office later clarified that the figures did include arrests under new anti-terrorism legislation.

A spokeswoman pointed out that the police had to make decisions over arrests based on "the circumstances presented to them", the need to conduct an effective investigation and the need to protect public safety.

Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said: "Of course we're concerned that less than one-fifth of those arrested under anti-terror laws have been charged. Inevitably, more people are arrested than charged and more are charged than convicted, yet this is all the more reason to make sure that innocent people are not locked up for longer and longer periods in pre-charge detention."

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