Preventing radicalisation

Terrorism has a devastating impact on victims, their families and communities. Many lives have been lost to terrorist attacks in the UK, and even more people have been injured. People can commit a terrorist offence even if they have not carried out a terrorist attack. Downloading terrorist materials from the internet or joining a terrorist group could be a terrorist offence.

By getting advice or support from Prevent, you can help to stop the person you are worried about becoming a danger to themself or others.

The Prevent strategy has three main objectives:

• Ideology - to respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat we face from those who promote it.
• Individuals - to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support.
• Institutions - to work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address.

Find out more about the Prevent Programme (gov.uk).

Terrorism is the use or threat of action, both in and outside of the UK, designed to influence any government organisation or to intimidate the public. To be considered as terrorism these acts must be for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause. Examples include: serious violence against a person or damage to property; endangering lives; or creating a serious risk to the health or safety of the public.

Extremism is the ‘vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values of democracy, rule of law, tolerance and individual liberty’ and respect and tolerance for different beliefs and faiths. This includes calls for the deaths of a member of the armed forces, both in the UK and overseas.

Radicalisation is the process of making someone sympathise with and support terrorist or extremist views. There is no obvious profile of a person that is at risk of radicalisation, and the process itself can be different for each individual. For some radicalisation can be a short process whereas, for others, it can occur gradually over a period of year.

Violent extremist groups can become attractive to individuals that are vulnerable or lonely. They can be drawn to these groups by being made to feel like they have found a place they belong with a sense of adventure, where they feel empowered. For some, it can even feel like they have found a new family to share their lives with.

The following factors have been identified as increasing an individual’s risk of radicalisation:

• Struggling with their sense of identity
• Questioning their place in society
• Family issues
• Experiencing a traumatic event
• Experiencing discrimination
• Difficulty in interacting socially and lacking empathy
• Difficulty in understanding the consequences of their actions
• Low self-esteem

Radicalisation can happen both in person or online. Everyone is different, and there is no checklist that can tell us if someone is being radicalised or becoming involved in terrorism.

Here are a few signs which may mean someone is being radicalised:

• Ignoring or demonising viewpoints that contradict their own
• Expressing themselves in an ‘us’ vs ‘them’ manner
• Justifying the use of violence or expressing a desire for revenge
• Increasingly secretive about how they are talking to
• Changing their circle of friends
• Losing interest in activities they once enjoyed
• Becoming socially withdrawn or spending a lot of time online
• Belief in conspiracy theories and distrust of mainstream media

Peterborough Police Boxing Club and eastern region’s Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) unit regularly held evenings of amateur boxing at Queen Katharine Academy, alongside ACT and England Boxing to ‘knock out extremism’

The campaign provides training for boxing coaches on how to spot the early signs of radicalisation, as well as providing a diversion for people who may be at risk of being drawn into extremism.

Peterborough police officers receive commendation for ‘Knock Out Extremism’ campaign (Peterborough Today).

Mohammed Tahir, 20, of Peterborough; Muhammed Saeed, 23, of Manchester; and Mohamed Ismail, 24 of north London, were sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, 20 May, 2022.

Between August and December 2019, the three men spoke to each other on internet chat groups, and sent messages which showed their Islamic extremist mindsets. They posted extremist material - Daesh propaganda material, including execution videos and publications showing different ways to commit terror attacks.

Peterborough man jailed after admitting terrorism offence (Peterborough Today)