Arrests of young terror suspects hits seven-year high
There were 71 youths arrested for terrorist-related activity under the age of 21 in the year to December 2024.
Arrests of young terror suspects across Britain have reached their highest level since 2017, new data shows.
Some 71 youths under 21 were arrested for terrorist-related activity in 2024, up from 69 the previous year and 60 in 2022.
It is the highest annual number since 77 arrests in 2017, the year of the Manchester Arena suicide bombing, which left 22 dead and more than a thousand injured, along with other terror attacks that claimed lives in Westminster, London Bridge, Finsbury Park and Parsons Green in London.
The data has been published by the Home Office and shows that of 71 under-21s arrested last year, 32 were aged 18-20, up from 26 in 2023, while 39 were under the age of 18, down slightly year-on-year from 43.
Counter Terrorism Policing’s senior national co-ordinator Vicki Evans said while there was a slight dip in the number for under-18s, the team arrested a “concerning number” of young people last year.
The deputy assistant commissioner added: “The offences of those who were arrested range from suspicion of possessing a firearm, to those who have allegedly shared terrorist material online, and to those who were thought to be preparing acts of terrorism.
“For over five years now Counter Terrorism Policing has been warning about the number of children and young people in our casework and investigations.
“And while this trend cannot be reversed by law enforcement alone, we must continue to work with our partners to stop young people, no matter their age, from causing harm to the public.”
The rise in under-21s arrested for terror offences comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Britain faces a new threat from “extreme violence carried out by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms” in the wake of the Southport murders.
A report by terror watchdog Jonathan Hall KC recommended a new offence to address the gap in the law for loners planning non-terror mass killings on Thursday.
Axel Rudakubana was jailed for a minimum of 52 years for the murders of three girls and attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July last year.
His acts of extreme violence were not considered terrorism under existing laws, but he also admitted possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism among other offences.
A breakdown of the Home Office data shows that 19 suspects aged under 18 were arrested in the three months to December 2024, the highest number for this age group in a single quarter in recent years.
Police forces across Great Britain arrested a total of 248 people for terrorism-related activity in 2024, up from 223 in 2023 and the highest annual number since 282 in 2019.
DAC Evans said the team has been operating at a “very high operational tempo” in the last 18 months, adding: “Within those arrests are three late-stage attacks that were disrupted thanks to the actions of our officers and our partners in the security service.”
Since March 2017, Counter Terrorism Policing and MI5 have jointly disrupted 43 late-stage attacks from taking place.
The increase in investigating national security cases linked to state threats was also another reason behind the increase in arrests, the police chief said.
The Home Office figures also show a total of 257 people were in custody in Britain for terrorism and terrorism-connected offences as of December 31 2024, up from 244 12 months earlier and the highest end-of-year number since comparable data began in 2010.
The jump has been driven by an increase in the number of individuals held for right-wing extremism, which has risen every year for the past 10 years and stood at 78 at the end of 2024, up from 64 in 2023.
A decade ago, at the end of December 2014, this figure stood at just four.
The number of people in custody for Islamist extremism stood at 157 at the end of last year, down from 158 at the end of 2023 and broadly unchanged on the past five years.
