Streatham attack: Emergency terror law to end early prisoner release

Emergency legislation will be introduced to end the automatic early release from prison of terror offenders, the government has said.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told MPs the change would apply to both current and future offenders.

Terror offenders will only be considered for release once they have served two-thirds of their sentence and with the approval of the Parole Board.

It follows two attacks by men convicted of terror offences in recent months.

On Sunday, Sudesh Amman, 20, was shot dead by police in Streatham, south London, after stabbing two people. And in November two people were killed near London Bridge.

Mr Buckland said the latest attack made the case “for immediate action”.

“We cannot have the situation, as we saw tragically in yesterday’s case, where an offender – a known risk to innocent members of the public – is released early by automatic process of law without any oversight by the Parole Board,” he said.

He said the new legislation would mean people convicted of terrorist offences will no longer be released automatically after they served half of their sentence.

No terrorist offender would be released before the end of their full custodial term unless the Parole Board agrees, he said.

Because we face “an unprecedented situation of severe gravity”, the legislation will also apply to serving prisoners, Mr Buckland said.