Anti-terrorism plans could put vulnerable children at risk, former children's commissioner says
Megan Warren-Lister
Friday, January 6, 2023
Former children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield has warned that plans for child-specific terrorism orders, currently being considered by ministers, could put vulnerable children at risk.
Longfield, who is now chair of the Commission on Young Lives, said the proposals, devised by Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, must account for the complexity of terrorism cases involving children and called for the introduction of further measures to tackle the root causes of child-offending.
Longfield said: "While protecting the public from harm must always be the top priority, other than in very extreme cases, we should be looking at every option available to divert these young people away from the criminal justice system.”
The proposals mean that under-17s arrested for lower-level offences would have an alternative to prosecution and imprisonment.
Under the plans, offenders could either be prosecuted, and face inprisonment, or accept behavioural conditions, such as limitations on access to certain devices or online material.
According to The Guardian, the orders were devised in response to the growing numbers of children being arrested for terror related offences.
Under 18s made up 16 per cent of the total number of arrests for counter-terrorism, a three per cent increase on the previous year, Home Office statistics show.
Hall told The Guardian that he hopes that the new measures will provide better outcomes for cases in which the relevant criminal conduct relates entirely to what children are saying or downloading online.
While the proposals provide scope for diverting children and young people from the criminal justice system, any breach of the alternative conditions would still constitute an offence punishable by the courts.
However, Longfield warned that terrorism cases involving children “often involve the grooming and exploitation of young people with mental health problems or other difficulties in their life”.
She said: "Over recent years, we have rightly developed a much better understanding of how children involved in criminal and sexual exploitation are victims of adult manipulation. We need the same understanding for children who are exploited by adult extremists.”
Longfield added that tackling the root causes of behaviour and providing intensive support are crucial to protecting vulnerable children.
Joining Longfield in calls for a greater emphasis on prevention, Hadiya Masieh, founder of the Groundswell Project, said: “Ultimately, the solution is better connected and cohesive communities in which young people can find a sense of belonging and purpose.”
The comments come following death of Rhianan Rudd, aged 16, in May last year.
Rhianan was just 15 when became the youngest person to be charged with terror offences in 2020 after accessing extreme right-wing content online.
The teenager waited more than six months for a charging decision which was later dropped after a Home Office investigation found that she had been exploited by American extremist Christopher Cook and halted prosecution in December 2021.
However, Rhianan, who was also diagnosed as autistic, was found hanged at a children’s home in May last year.
Speaking to the BBC earlier this week, her mother said: “They should have seen her as a victim rather than a terrorist. She's a child, an autistic child. She should have been treated as a child that had been groomed and sexually exploited."
