Five freed terrorists sent back to prison after breaching parole

By Niall Firth

Five convicted terrorists released into the community have been returned to jail after breaching parole, it was revealed today.

Emergency recall powers were used to recapture the men who had breached conditions of their parole. One is even suspected of trying to buy a gun following his release.

The five have not been identified but are believed to have been recalled in the last few months.

The breaches are believed to include one man assaulting a police officer and another communicating with terror suspects he had been barred from contacting.
Earlier this month it was revealed that around 20 convicted terrorists had been freed after serving two-thirds of their sentences.Another 75 are due to be released in the next three to four years. Among them is al-Qaeda trained terrorist Sohail Qureshi.

The East London dental assistant was arrested in October 2006 at Heathrow Airport on the way to Afghanistan where he planned to attack British troops.A fifth high risk offender, due to be released later this year will be placed in a hostel in the South East.

Police and probation staff fear they will be stretched to the limit by the release of almost 100 terrorists in the coming years.

Since 1999, at least 150 men have been convicted of terrorist offences, with 120 linked to al-Qaeda.

Of those, 115 were given determinate sentences which means they will be released after serving two thirds of their terms, despite being refused for parole in many cases.Napo, the probation officers' union estimates that 75 terrorists who received sentences less than 11 years will be freed in the next three to four years.

On release, they will be placed in hostels around the UK and supervised by staff more used to dealing with drug dealers and thieves.Another 20 terrorists serving longer sentence of 11 to 20 years may be supervised in hostels in the longer term.

But security sources say the cost of monitoring them in the community may be more than keeping them in jail. It costs the taxpayer around £40,000 a year for a prison inmate and £25,000 for a hostel place.

But those who pose the greatest risk need constant police surveillance upon release, which is extremely expensive as it involves two 12 hours shifts of 16 officers on permanent duty.

The Ministry of Justice said it could not comment on individual cases but a spokeswoman said: ''The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes its responsibilities for public protection very seriously and is committed to ensuring that probation services have the skills and resources they need to safely and effectively manage the risks posed by extremist offenders under licence.

"There is a multi-disciplinary programme of work underway across prisons and probation, supported by funding from the Home Office, to address these risks, and Probation work very closely with the Police and other partner agencies to ensure that extremist offenders are effectively monitored.'

Source: Mail Online