Streatham terror attack resulted in jail release law change

Amman, 20, was released from HMP Belmarsh into the community on January 23 2020 to serve the remainder of his 40-month sentence on licence.

The case of Sudesh Amman prompted a swift change in the law to prevent terror offenders being automatically released at the half-way point of their jail sentence.

Amman, 20, was released from HMP Belmarsh into the community on January 23 2020 to serve the remainder of his 40-month sentence on licence.

This was despite pleas from the police and MI5 for Belmarsh to keep Amman locked up over concerns about his extremist mindset.

The Belmarsh governor at the time, Rob Davis, said he was powerless to prevent his release, Amman’s inquest heard.

Amman, convicted in 2018 of 13 counts of collecting material useful for terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications, went on to commit his atrocity 10 days after he was sent to live at a probation hostel in Streatham, south London.

His case resulted in the Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Bill, which was given royal assent less than four weeks after the atrocity.

Giving evidence in the Commons as the Bill made its way through Parliament, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland QC told MPs: “As we saw in the Streatham attack, we cannot have a situation where an offender — a known risk to the public — is released without any oversight by the Parole Board.”

The law applies to offenders sentenced for crimes such as training for terrorism, membership of a proscribed organisation, and the dissemination of terrorist publications.

It ensures terrorist offenders serve two-thirds of their sentence before they are considered eligible for release.

Amman’s inquest previously heard evidence of him revelling in his status as a young terror offender in Belmarsh, and also heard he was determined to commit an atrocity upon his release.

Handwritten notes found in his cell appeared to pledge allegiance to the leader of so-called Islamic State, though it was never proven that they were written by Amman himself.

The inquest heard that it was deemed impossible to conclude the disciplinary investigation into Amman before his release, meaning his detention could not be extende

Published: 20/08/2021 by Radio NewsHub