Police criticised over terror arrests
Police criticised over terror arrests
Tuesday, 24, Nov 2009 05:30
By Richard James.
Counter-terrorism police have been criticised over a series of raids across north-east England earlier this year which resulted in the dramatic arrests of 12 students.
All the men were eventually released without charge in April and the operation has now been criticised for not seeking proper legal advice.
A report by Lord Carlile, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism laws, found Greater Manchester police should have discussed progress with specialist crown prosecution service (CPS) lawyers before launching the raids.
Lord Carlile said: "If advice was sought and shared by the officers concerned, plainly one would expect a written record.
"Given the complexity of terrorism cases, it makes sense for the CPS to have as much time as possible in which to prepare."
Lord Carlile's review also confirmed the controversial raids were brought forward after Bob Quick, former head of counter-terrorism, was photographed outside Downing Street with documents, containing details of an alleged plot, clearly visible in his arms.
The former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police resigned the following day.
The gaff caused the arrests to be made earlier than planned, in broad daylight instead the middle of the night as normal.
The students - all but one of which was Pakistani - were released without charge and the incident prompted even greater suspicion and division among the Muslim community.
Lord Carlile said while there was a "sound basis for carrying out arrests" there had been insufficient evidence to charge them or detain them for a longer period.
Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson, of Greater Manchester Police, responded the report, saying: "In this situation we felt we had to act to protect the public.
"We did speak to the crown prosecution service ahead of arrests being made and will continue to work with them. However, none of the conversations would have changed our decision to make arrests or the number of people arrested."