British terror arrests surge 60% in a year

The number of terrorism arrests surged by 60pct in the year to September, official figures revealed here Thursday, although only one in five was charged with a related offence. A total of 245 people were held on suspicion of terrorism-related offences in the period, compared with 153 in the previous 12 months, the Home Office said. Of those arrested, just 45, or 18%, were charged with a terrorism-related offence and of those 10 were convicted and 25 are still awaiting trial. The figures, provided by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), detail the number of people arrested by police in Great Britain where there is suspicion of involvement with terrorism. The small numbers of terrorism arrests each year mean that large spikes can result from specific incidents or particular police operations, the Home Office said. A total of 2,291 terrorism arrests have been made since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the figures showed, while there were 134 prisoners classified as terrorists or domestic extremists at the end of September last year. Around a fifth, or 21%, of terrorism-related arrests in the last 12-month period were made under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 which allows detention for up to 14 days. Four of the 51 people held in this way were kept in pre-charge detention for more than seven days, the figures showed. The proportion of arrests for terrorism-related offences made under Section 41 has fallen in recent years, from a peak of 96% in 2005/06. Of the 245 arrested in the period, 49 people were charged with non terrorism-related offences, while 101, or 41%, were released without charge. Another 50, or 20%, were dealt with by "alternative action", the Home Office said. This compares with 54% who did not face charges in the previous 12 months, when just 5% of those held were subject to alternative action. Since September 11 2001, of the 512 people charged with terrorism-related offences, 312, or 61%, have been convicted. And in the year to September 30, 33 prisoners being held for terrorism or domestic extremism-related offences were released from jail. The survey also revealed that a total of 720 people were stopped and searched under Section 43 by the Metropolitan Police Service in the year to September 30, down from 1,211 in the previous 12 months, a fall of 41%. Of the 720 searches made in the period, 34, or just 5%, resulted in arrest. During this period, the proportion of people targeted by the Met who classified themselves as black or black British increased by two percentage points to 11% The proportion of people searched who described themselves as white also rose by two percentage points to 40%, while the number who classed themselves as Asian or Asian British remained at 34%. The quarterly update revealed that a new stop and search power granted to officers in March 2011 is still yet to be used. The new power under Section 47a of the Terrorism Act 2000 came into effect as a replacement for a previous stop and search power which was seen as too random and was struck down by the courts.