Latest news with #radicalisation
ABC News
a day ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Terrorgram linked to alleged plot to kill Labor politician
Violent racist organisation Terrorgram, which has now been formally listed as a terror organisation, has been linked to an alleged plot to kill NSW Labor MP Tim Crakanthorp. It is the first time the terror group has been linked to a plot in Australia. Jordan Patten, 20, was charged last year with a terror offence after police arrested him in Newcastle dressed in a commando suit one block away from Mr Crakanthorp's office. Police allege he had begun plotting to kill the MP that morning and was arrested just hours later carrying a hammer and knives. According to the Home Affairs Department, the alleged attacker said Terrorgram, which operates through encrypted platforms like Telegram, had played a critical role in his radicalisation. After the attack failed, the 19-year-old allegedly uploaded a 205-page manifesto that cited the 2019 Christchurch shooter as inspiration. The department said following the failed attack, Terrorgram members also posted advice and instructions for how prospective future attackers could avoid the same failures and succeed in carrying out "lone-actor" terrorist attacks. "The users explicitly advocated for individuals to carry out more successful attacks through the provision of this advice," the department said. The group has been linked to terror activity in the United States, Europe and Asia but has not previously been officially linked to a terror plot in Australia. The federal government moved to impose financial sanctions on Terrorgram in February, making it illegal to financially support or benefit from the group. Friday's terror listing makes it an offence for anyone to be a member of Terrorgram, associate with its members, recruit for the group or train with or fund the organisation. The offences are punishable with a maximum penalty of 25 years' prison. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told ABC Radio National the listing would not be the final step, acknowledging the constant effort to stamp out terror groups online. "You never stop chasing these characters down, you never stop," he said. "This listing won't be the last thing we have to do against far-right white supremacist groups, there will be more."
Telegraph
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Stephen Fry says JK Rowling's been ‘radicalised'. I've got just one question for him
Sir Stephen Fry, the renowned psychoanalyst, says he believes that JK Rowling 'has been radicalised'. I must say that I for one was somewhat taken aback by this diagnosis. Because, if Ms Rowling has indeed been 'radicalised', that means she harbours beliefs that are 'radical'. In which case, would Sir Stephen be so kind as to tell us which of her beliefs he has in mind? Take, for example, Ms Rowling's belief that women don't have testicles. Or her belief that men can't give birth. Is either of those beliefs radical? Extreme? Wildly at variance with established medical science? Perhaps he's thinking of her belief that biological males should not be entitled to enter the female changing room at their local swimming pool and strip naked in front of small girls. Or her belief that confused children should not be pumped with drugs designed to prevent them from going through a normal, healthy puberty. Or her belief that we should not grant a convicted rapist his wish to be placed in a jail full of women merely because he's suddenly taken to sporting a blonde wig and pink leggings. Does Sir Stephen consider those beliefs to be radical? I do hope he'll let us know. It's urgent. Otherwise, there's a serious risk that innocent members of the public will become radicalised, too. In the meantime, I'm anxious to ascertain how exactly Ms Rowling came to fall for the outlandish notion that women are female and men are male. Who radicalised her? Sir Stephen reckons it was 'Terfs' (i.e., trans-exclusionary radical feminists). But I wonder if she was brainwashed at an early age – by, say, an O-level biology teacher. Or perhaps some appallingly irresponsible school librarian gave her access to a dictionary. Whatever the source of her indoctrination, I dread to think what crazed ideological nonsense this dangerous woman will pollute our children's minds with next. The Earth is round? Water is wet? Members of the family Ursidae typically defecate in arboreal environs? Then again, I suppose there is an alternative way to look at this story. Which is that the beliefs Ms Rowling espouses have been completely mainstream since the dawn of humanity – and that it is, in fact, her opponents who have been 'radicalised'. Just a thought. Lost in translation A 29-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, we learnt this week, attempted to defend his rape of a 15-year-old Scottish girl by claiming that he had not been 'educated' about the 'significant cultural differences' between Afghanistan and Britain. As it turned out, the court didn't buy this excuse. Which is a relief. After all, doesn't his argument imply that Britain was somehow at fault, for failing to 'educate' him about these 'differences' when he arrived? God only knows what he thinks the authorities should have said, the day his dinghy washed up here in 2023. 'Good afternoon, sir, and welcome to our country! Please do make yourself at home. But, if you don't mind, we'd just like to help you fit in by giving you a quick introduction to a few traditional British customs. 'Number one: we're completely obsessed with talking about the weather! Number two: we drink endless cups of tea! Number three: we all absolutely love the adorable adventures of Paddington bear! 'Oh, and number four: we generally tend to frown on grown men who rape children in the street. 'We appreciate, sir, that as a newcomer you may find this a touch puzzling. But then, all cultures have their distinctive little quirks and foibles, don't they? And 'not sexually assaulting terrified pubescent girls' just happens to be one of ours. So we thought we'd better give you a little heads-up, to save you from making a rather embarrassing faux pas! 'Of course, there are some people in our country who have been known to disregard the above convention. Late BBC disc jockeys, for example, and Pakistani grooming gangs. The feeling among the wider British public, though, is that it's still something of a no-no, and best avoided. After all, you can't be certain that our police, social workers and politicians will cover it up for you! I mean, they might, but it's not guaranteed. 'Anyway, thanks for listening, sir, and have a lovely new life! The hotel's this way, we'll just come and check you in.' A question of Pride LGBT Pride is about to enter its fourth week. Best wishes to all who are still celebrating. I hope no one will be offended, however, if I respectfully ask why this event now has to last for an entire month. It does feel like quite a long time. Especially when you compare the lengths of certain other annual events. For example, we have Pride month – but Remembrance fortnight. So we now spend twice as long waving rainbow flags as we do honouring those who died defending us. There's nothing hateful about suggesting that Pride has started to drag on a bit. When people complain about shops putting their festive decorations up in September, it doesn't mean they hate Christmas. It just means they think Christmas should last 12 days, not four months. Mind you, there are now so many different groups under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, I suppose it takes about a month just to list them all.
Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Al-Qaeda-radicalised student who stabbed MP allowed to go free
A student who tried to murder an MP after being radicalised by an al-Qaeda cleric can be released from prison. Roshonara Choudhry, then 21, was jailed for life for a minimum of 15 years for stabbing Sir Stephen Timms twice in the stomach in May 2010, and for two offences of possessing an offensive weapon. The attack on the now social security minister is thought to be the first al-Qaeda inspired attempt to assassinate a politician on British soil. The former King's College London student attacked Sir Stephen, the MP for East Ham, as he held a constituency surgery at the Beckton Globe community centre in east London, smiling and pretending she was going to shake hands with him before stabbing him. After she was arrested, she told detectives the stabbing was 'punishment' and 'to get revenge for the people of Iraq'. But after a Parole Board hearing on May 20 this year, a panel decided she could be freed from jail. A decision summary said: 'After considering the circumstances of her offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing and in the dossier, the panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.' The document said that at the time of the attempted murder, Choudhry, now 36, had risk factors of problems with family relationships, development of extreme beliefs about the world and willingness to use violence to address perceived injustices. But she had engaged in programmes in prison to understand how her extreme beliefs developed and her conduct in prison was described as 'exemplary'. The summary added: 'Ms Choudhry was assessed as having shown a very high level of insight and understanding of herself. 'She had consistently shown over many years that she no longer held the same beliefs, that she was able to manage her emotional wellbeing effectively and she would no longer be likely to be influenced by other people with strong negative views, having developed the ability to critically evaluate information and to seek help from professionals if she needs it.' The document said the panel did not receive a victim impact statement, or representations from the justice secretary. It was recommended that Choudhry be released on licence under conditions such as living at a designated address, with a specific curfew and subject to an exclusion zone to avoid contact with Sir Stephen. A Parole Board spokesman said: 'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community. 'Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.'
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Student jailed for life for trying to stab MP to death after being radicalised online by extremist preacher is to be freed after just 15 years
A student who tried to stab an MP to death after being radicalised online is set to be freed from jail after serving just 15 years. Roshonara Choudhry was just 21 when she was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in 2010 for trying to murder Labour MP Stephen Timms because he voted in favour of the Iraq War. She attacked Mr Timms with a three-inch kitchen knife at a constituency surgery in Newham, east London, on May 14, 2010, after being radicalised as a university student to 'get revenge for the people of Iraq'. The married politician, 55 at the time of the attack, was stabbed twice in the stomach - suffering wound lacerations to the left lobe of his liver - but survived after surgery. Choudhry, of East Ham, London, was found guilty of attempted murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years. A previous parole hearing had recommended she be moved to an open prison, but this was rejected by the Justice Secretary. But now the Parole Board has recommended that she can be released. Choudhry, now 36, had an 'oral hearing' in May at which the Board concluded she can be let out on licence. A written summary, seen by MailOnline, stated that Choudhry had taken a number of 'accredited courses' over many years, including 'work with religious practitioners and psychologists to address her risk factors'. 'She had also completed training courses and engaged with the education department,' it added. 'Ms Choudhry was assessed as having shown a very high level of insight and understanding of herself. 'She had consistently shown over many years that she no longer held the same beliefs, that she was able to manage her emotional wellbeing effectively and she would no longer be likely to be influenced by other people with strong negative views having developed the ability to critically evaluate information and to seek help from professionals if she needs it.' The report stated: 'Ms Choudhry's prison conduct is exemplary.' Of the run-up to her murder attempt, the document said: 'At the time of her offending, these risk factors included problems in family relationships, development of extreme beliefs about the world, willingness to use violence to address perceived injustices, association with peers who shared her beliefs, seeking out materials and speakers who supported and encouraged her beliefs, being easily influenced by other people who had strong views, not managing aspect of her personality characteristics, and failing to seek help and guidance from professionals.' The board said that protective factors that would reduce the risk of reoffending include 'her beliefs being more moderate and realistic, insight into her actions, empathy for the victim of the offence, and for others in general, ability to control her thoughts and actions'. A release plan proposed by Choudhry's probation officer included 'to reside in specialised accommodation as well as strict limitations on Ms Choudhry's contacts, movements, activities and access to the internet'. The panel concluded: 'After considering the circumstances of her offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing and in the dossier, the panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.' Choudhry will also have to submit to an enhanced form of supervision or monitoring including signing-in times and a specified curfew. At her trial, the court was told that Choudhry was born to a Bangladeshi family in Newham and lived in East Ham. She was the eldest of five and a gifted student and linguist, fluent in four languages including French. She had obtained three A grade A Levels and went on to study at the prestigious King's College London. At the time of the attack, Choudhry had just dropped out of an English and Communications degree after two years. Behind the respectable facade, police discovered that Choudhry was angry that King's had given an award to the Israeli politician Shimon Peres, in addition to running anti-radicalisation programmes. These views came from an online radicalisation which the investigation revealed had been fuelled by sermons of Anwar al-Awlaki, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In November 2009, Choudhry began downloading more than 100 hours of sermons and lectures by Anwar al-Awlaki in which he preached the need for 'violent action to combat the atrocities of the West against Muslims around the world'. He claimed: 'Assassinations, bombings, and acts of arson are all legitimate forms of revenge against a system that relishes the sacrilege of Islam in the name of freedom.' In interviews with police, Choudhry explained how she had stumbled across his teachings on YouTube. She said: 'I wasn't searching for him, I just came across him.' Choudhry would watch two of the lectures a day and finished the complete set in the first week of May, days before the attack. The sermons changed her view on the Iraq War and its supporters. Prior to watching the lectures, she did not have particularly strong views about the conflict. She methodically planned the attack, registering the MP's pro Iraq War views and made an appointment to see him at 2.45pm on May 14 at his surgery at Beckton Globe community centre. Choudhry packed the three-inch blade and a back-up five-inch blade in case the first broke. She even emptied her bank account and paid off her student loans to ensure the British state could not seize her money after her arrest. At the surgery, Choudhry was called to Mr Timms's office at 3pm. She walked around the desk and extended her left hand to greet him. As she did so, she produced a knife in her right hand and stabbed him in the abdomen. She then thrust the knife at him again as he tried to ward off the blow. Mr Timms said: 'I thought she must have been coming to shake my hand. She looked friendly, she was smiling. 'I was a little puzzled because a Muslim woman dressed in that way would not normally be willing to shake a man's hand, still less to take the initiative to do so. 'She stabbed me twice and after that, I did retreat. I retreated into the toilet, which was behind where I was standing, lifted up my jumper and realised there was quite a lot of blood there.' When subsequently asked what she had been trying to do, Choudhry replied: 'I was trying to kill him.' She later added: 'I wasn't going to stop stabbing him until someone made me.' Mr Timms was taken to the Royal London Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, having suffered lacerations to the left lobe of the liver and a perforation to the stomach. The injuries were 'potentially life-threatening', but he was released after five days and made a full recovery. Choudhry, who refused to attend the trial, appeared by videolink for sentencing. At the time, she showed no remorse. Mr Justice Cooke, told her: 'You said you ruined the rest of your life. You said it was worth it. You said you wanted to be a martyr.' He went on to tell Choudhry that he hoped she would come to understand the 'distorted nature' of her thinking and repent. Chris Phillips, the UK's former Head of the National Counter Terrorism, told MailOnline: 'The criminal justice system is not fit for purpose. Releasing dangerous terrorists is just not acceptable. 'Terrorists should be treated like mental health patients and only be released when safe. There needs to be proof that they have been deradicalised rather than an automatic release or parole.'
Sky News
09-06-2025
- Sky News
Rhianan Rudd: How mother's boyfriend played 'significant' role in radicalising youngest UK girl to face terror charges
Rhianan Rudd, who took her own life at the age of 16, was the youngest girl in the UK to be charged with terrorist offences. The inquest into her death, which concluded today, revealed shocking details about her radicalisation by two American white supremacists, one of whom was her mother's boyfriend, who the coroner said "played a material role in her radicalisation". Rhianan gouged a swastika into her forehead, downloaded a bomb-making manual and told her mother she planned to blow up a synagogue. Investigated by anti-terrorism police and MI5, charges against her were later dropped, but five month later on 19 May 2022, she was found dead in her shower in a children's home in Nottinghamshire. Hours earlier she had posted on Instagram: "I'm delving into madness." The evidence heard in Chesterfield Coroner's Court from police, social services and even an MI5 operative, raised questions over the state's part in her death - and whether, despite her obvious radicalisation, this vulnerable, autistic girl should have been treated with more care by the authorities. Judge Alexia Durran said: "I'm not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, Rhianan intended to take her own life. Rhianan's death... was the result of a self-inflicted act but it is not possible to ascertain her intention. "Rhianan was known, to family and professionals, to be vulnerable, to have autistic traits and have a history of self-harm." The coroner added: "I find she was highly affected by her arrest and was concerned about being sent to prison." It was not known what Rhianan was told by her legal team when the charges were dropped but this may have had a "psychological impact" on her, the coroner said. In an interview released at the verdict, Rhianan's mother Emily Carter said her daughter "should never have been charged", that she was failed by those investigating her, including MI5 and counter terrorism police, as well as being let down by mental health services and those caring for her at the home. This was the most complex of cases, set at a time when our security services are seeing a growing number of children being arrested and charged for terrorist offences, while parents often seem oblivious to the radicalising material they are consuming online in their bedrooms. Ms Durham's ruling reflected this complexity, finding that while there were some failings the actions of the police and MI5 were "reasonable and proportionate". The coroner concluded today that she was satisfied that missed opportunities in her case were "not systemic". Judge Alexia Durran said: "In the circumstances I do not consider I should make a prevention of future deaths report." At the same she was unequivocal about the "significant" role played by two extremists in radicalising her. It was her mother's former boyfriend, an American she'd befriended though a US pen-pal prison scheme, who first introduced Rhianan to far-right ideology. Dax Mallaburn had been part of a white supremacist prison gang in the US and subsequently came to the UK to live with Rhianan's mother in September 2017, a year after she'd been to visit him in the US. In the autumn of 2019, Rhianan alleged that he had touched her inappropriately but later withdrew the allegation and, after a social services assessment, Mr Mallaburn returned to the family home. Ms Carter says: "In hindsight, he was a bad person but I never saw him talking Nazi stuff with her." Before Rhianan was arrested, Mr Mallaburn's relationship with her mother had broken down and he returned to the US and then Mexico. However, during COVID, Rhianan appeared to contact another far-right extremist, Christopher Cook, and began an online relationship with him. Cook, who was roughly 18 and living in Ohio, shared far-right texts with Rhianan along with a bomb-making manual, and during this time she became fixated with Adolf Hitler. Cook's lawyer, Peter Scranton, says he too was radicalised online, and he came up with a plan to blow up power stations in the US, for which he was eventually arrested in August 2020, and in February 2022 he pleaded guilty to terrorism offences. Cook, who was a misfit at school, suffering from "severe depression" according to his lawyer and was "essentially lashing out" as he tried to form a group to carry out his plan. Mr Scranton told Sky News, "It was white nationalism, and they had this idea, and I don't know why anyone would feel this way or how they thought it would work, that if they tore down the government and started over they could create a new United States of America that could look like the image that they would want - a white nationalist image." Downtown LA a scene of 'pandemonium' Day Of The Jackal author dead Mr Scranton says Cook told him he didn't radicalise Rhianan, and it was the former boyfriend, Dax Mallaburn, who'd initially got her into neo-Nazi ideology. However, the coroner found Cook was "a significant radicaliser of Rhianan" at a time when she was "isolated and unsupervised". Ms Carter says Rhianan was interested in German history because she was doing it at school and Cook was able to "pull her in", to racial hatred and antisemitism. She says she didn't know what was happening, despite having parental controls on Rhianan's devices. She said: "I could hear her talking to people on there and I'd say who are you talking to and she'd say - just someone from school - and in fact I found out it wasn't at all. "When this person she was talking to disappeared, that's when she sat down on my lap like a baby and cried. She told me this guy Chris had left her, and she was totally in love with him - then she came down and told me she had downloaded a bomb manual and I was like 'Oh my god, what have you been doing'." Ms Carter decided to contact Prevent - a national program in the UK designed to stop individuals from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism She says: "I thought putting her in a deradicalisation programme would be a fairly easy undo 'brain pick', But it wasn't until the police turned up that I thought 'hang on a minute this is a lot deeper than I actually thought it was at first'." Ms Carter and her lawyers have argued that the police were heavy-handed, that there should have been a psychological assessment before she was even questioned over terrorism offences. "There were 19 police officers to arrest a 5ft 1, 14-year-old girl who weighs seven stone. It was over the top," says Ms Carter. Once Rhianan was charged, the deradicalisation work under Prevent was put on hold. Ms Carter thinks this was a mistake. She says: "Leaving her with her own thoughts throughout the entire time of going through the police interviews and everything else - the deradicalisation would have changed the way she was seeing things - I believe she would have been able to handle it all so much better." The coroner described the police arrest and interview as "necessary and conducted appropriately" and that, while ceasing the Prevent intervention was an "unfortunate consequence" of the police investigation, it was "an appropriate step". During police interviews, Rhianan described being coerced and groomed, including sexually, and having sent explicit images of herself to Cook. Lawyers representing the family say police and MI5 knew she was the victim of child sexual exploitation but failed to refer her to the relevant body - the National Referral Mechanism. It was only after a social worker made the referral, that she was identified as a child victim and then the charges were dropped, by which time she had been subject to investigation and prosecution for 15 months. The coroner agreed that there was a "systems failure" due to a lack of training both within the police and the Derbyshire council who both had had "significant information" that she was a potential victim of modern slavery. However, she also said it "was impossible to know" whether this would have led to the CPS dropping their charges sooner, "nor that if had more than minimal impact on Rhianan's death". Ms Carter says if she'd been treated differently "she'd be troubled, but I do think she'd still be alive". Rhianan's family say the security services knew her vulnerabilities and that she had a tendency to self-harm, but they failed to take this into account. Ms Carter said: "I admit my mistakes and I want the organisations to admit their mistakes. There were failings and they need to admit them." This ruling however found that the state did not play a role in Rhianan's death under article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. For the most part, her vulnerabilities were known and taken into consideration. It does however show how extremists will exploit children with mental health problems, young people who are struggling with life who may be a danger to society, but also a risk to themselves. Counter Terrorism Policing said it offered "sincere condolences to Rhianan's family and loved ones for their terrible loss". Assistant Chief Constable Di Coulson, speaking on behalf of Counter Terrorism Policing in the East Midlands (CTPEM) and Derbyshire Constabulary, said: "This was a complex case involving a very vulnerable young person, who had been subjected to radicalisation. "Rhianan's tragic death was clearly devastating for her family. It was felt profoundly by the officers directly involved, but also across Counter Terrorism Policing as a whole. "Rhianan's case was a stark moment for our management of the growing numbers of children and young people in our casework - so often presenting vulnerability as well as risk and threat to the public. "Since Rhianan's death, we continue to work alongside our partners to evolve the way we approach cases involving children and, where feasible, attempt to rehabilitate and deradicalise, rather than investigate and convict. "We welcome the findings of the Chief Coroner today, and while we have already made substantial improvements to the way we manage these cases, we will carefully review the findings and make any further changes in order to improve our protection of the public against terrorism."
