Just 14 jihadis convicted of fighting for IS in Syria after return to UK — despite 400 coming back
JUST 14 jihadis have been convicted of fighting for IS in Syria and Iraq after returning to the UK – despite over 400 coming back, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
Government ministers said around 40 had been convicted of terrorism-related offences – but most were for crimes committed on British soil after returning.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) records show only 14 fighters and one woman now in Britain have been found guilty of fighting in Syria and Iraq, or for being members of terror groups.
The shocking figures reveal how hard it is to prosecute extremists under the laws as evidence is hard to retrieve from the battlefields of war torn states.
It means for most returning fighters authorities have only been able to land a conviction once they attempt a terror act on British soil.
Raffaello Pantucci, counter-terrorism expert of the RUSI defence think tank, said: “This is clearly embarrassing for the government.
“They have backed themselves into the corner by revealing more than 400 fighters have returned to the UK so people will start asking what’s happened to them. This reveals the answer is not very much.”
Government ministers and security chiefs have repeatedly warned of the difficulty of prosecuting returning fighters.
Met Police commissioner Cresida Dick said earlier this year that the “very fact of going is not an offence”.
‘GOING IS NOT AN OFFENCE’
Assistant commissioner Neil Basu, head of UK counterterror policing, has spoken of his fears that “people will either get back without our knowledge” or “we will not have a case we can prosecute”.
He warned: “Proving what someone has been doing in a theatre of war is no easy task.”
The statistics add to fears over the UK taking back battle-hardened jihadist prisoners currently held in Syria and Iraq.
It comes as the CPS reconsidered its opposition to trying two members of the so-called IS “Beatles” cell, El Shafee Elsheikh, 30, and Alexanda Kotey, 35.
The US had taken custody of the pair who are suspected of involvement in killing British and American hostages in Syria. But British prosecutors now say they have “very substantial evidence” to charge them.
Mohammed Yamin, 26, from East London, was jailed for 10 years last week over his membership of Al Qaeda in Syria.
Tareena Shakil, 29, is the only woman to be successfully prosecuted upon her return from Syria for membership of ISIS after travelling to the country with her toddler son in 2014.
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The Home Office said: “Where individuals do return, they will be investigated and, where there is evidence that crimes have been committed, they should expect to face prosecution.
“Decisions on how people are dealt with are made on a case-by-case basis to ensure the most appropriate action is taken.
“The majority of those who have returned did so in the earlier stages of the conflict and have been investigated. A significant proportion of these individuals are assessed as no longer being of national security concern.”
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