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Terrorism spreads among children in the UK, says report
RT reported, of the 168 terrorism suspects arrested in the UK last year, one in eight was a child. With school and socialization off the cards for much of the year, officials warned that kids were being “drawn towards terrorist activity.” Terrorism
A 14-year-old Islamist from Hampshire, a 17-year-old Neo-Nazi from Essex, and a 15-year-old right-wing extremist from Derbyshire were all among the 166 people arrested for terrorism offences in the UK in the year leading up to this March. Of these 166 people, 21 – or one in eight – were children, up from 12 last year.
Children accounted for 5% of all terror arrests last year. This year that figure rose to 13%.
RT added these figures were revealed in a Home Office report published on Thursday. The report also found that the majority of terror suspects arrested were males over 30 years of age. Most were white (53%), followed by Asians (30%). However, when compared to overall population statistics, Asians are three times as likely to be arrested for terrorism offences than the average Briton.
The report says the lockdown measures due to coronavirus created a “perfect storm” of radicalization. Terrorism
According to RT, the report does not mention the ideologies of the suspects, but does note that arrests of white suspects were up 12 percentage points on the previous year, and arrests of Asian suspects were down nine points.
Of the 168 people arrested in total, 13 have been convicted of terror offences and two of non-terror offences. 24 are awaiting prosecution.
Source: RT
Image source: Reuters-RT
