UK Arrests 40 Children for Terrorism Offences, Five Times the Share from a Decade Ago

UK police arrested 40 children for terrorism-related offences last year, representing one in five of all such arrests, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor told a Five Eyes intelligence meeting. Taylor, who leads UK counter-terrorism policing, said the proportion has risen sharply from one in 20 a decade ago. He added that 10-year-olds are now enrolled in the Prevent deradicalisation programme.

Newly released police data show close to 3,000 individuals referred to Prevent reported being radicalised through online video game platforms. Taylor said the age profile of people committing violent, terrorist and sexual crimes continues to fall across the board.

Graeme Biggar, head of the National Crime Agency, said officers recently detained a 15-year-old suspected of attempting to bring a firearm into Britain.

He reported a case this week involving eight-year-olds groomed online through gaming platforms. Biggar said trials are under way or due to start soon for people alleged to have committed cyber offences as teenagers. He noted that while children remain predominantly victims, young people are increasingly appearing as offenders.

The Five Eyes alliance, whose members include Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, also discussed nihilist terror groups operating online, including the satanic organisation 764. The group targets vulnerable youngsters and coerces them into sharing explicit images or inflicting self-harm.

UK criminal gangs have adopted a tactic described as “violence as a service,” using children to carry out attacks, officials said.

The practice mirrors methods already used by organised crime networks in the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden. Krissy Barrett, commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, said the UK this week replicated Australia’s social media ban for those under 16. She described the situation facing children as an epidemic.