Police arrest 21-year-old man in London on suspicion of attempting to join Isis in Syria

The 21-year-old is accused of preparing acts of terrorism

Thursday 28 April 2016 16:23 BST

An armed British police officer holds his automatic weapon as he stands on duty in central London on March 22, 2016. B (AFP/Getty)

Police have arrested a 21-year-old man in London on suspicion of attempting to join Isis in Syria.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said counter-terrorism detectives believed the man was planning to travel to the country "for a terrorist purpose".

He was arrested in central London shortly after midday on Thursday and remain in custody at a local police station.

"The 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation of instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 40 of the Terrorism Act 2000," a spokesperson for Scotland Yard said.

"Searches are being carried out at two London addresses and an address in Birmingham as part of this investigation."

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

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1/14UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

Oxford Street terror plot

Lewis Ludlow was jailed for life in March 2019 for planning a 'spectacular multi-victim attack' on Oxford Street in London. He pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey last year to plotting an attack in the UK and funding Isis abroad

EPA

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

Rosie Cooper MP plot

Jack Renshaw admitted plotting to kill his local Labour MP with a machete in June 2018. Renshaw bought a 19in machete intending to use it to kill Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire. His plan was foiled by whistleblower Robbie Mullen, who heard of the plot in a meeting of alleged and convicted National Action members in the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington

Hope Not Hate

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

'Poppy terror plot'

Nadir Ali Sayed, his cousin Yousaf Shah Syed, and Haseeb Hamayoon, were charged with terrorism offences over an alleged plot to behead a member of public. The trio were arrested in London and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 6 November - three days before Remembrance Sunday in 2014

PA

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

National Action arrests

Following the arrest of six men in 2018 on suspicion that they were members of the banned far-right terror group National Action, two were jailed. Christopher Lythgoe was found to be leader of the banned group and jailed for eight years, while Matthew Hankinson was jailed for six years. While it was found that Lythgoe did not encourage Jack Renshaw's plot to kill a Labour MP, the judge noted that he "did nothing to stop or discourage" the attack

PA

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

Shane Fletcher

A self-described 'loner', Fletcher planned to kill members of the public at a football match in his home town of Workington. He had been referred to the government's Prevent programme nine moths prior to his arrest after stating that he dreamed about "shooting up a mosque"

PA

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

Heathrow airport arrests

A 19-year-old from Coventry man was arrested at London's Heathrow airport on suspicion of preparing for acts of terrorism in November 2014

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

Extradition of Abu Hamza

Radical muslim cleric Abu Hamza was extradited to the US in 2014 after having been jailed in the UK for 7 years for 11 offences under the Terrorism Act

Getty

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

South East Counter Terrorism Unit arrests

Six people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after a series of dawn raids in the south of England in October 2014. Three men and three women were detained separately in two properties in Portsmouth, one in Farnborough and one in Greenwich following an operation by the South East Counter Terrorism Unit. Counter-terror officers said they had disrupted what was believed to be the early stages of what could have turned into a “significant plot”

PA

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

October 2014 arrests

Three men were arrested in central London on 13 October as part of an investigation into Islamist-related terrorism. The arrests come nearly a week after five men were arrested in dawn raids that Whitehall officials said “may have foiled the early stages” of a plan to attack the UK

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

Anjem Choudary arrest

Anjem Choudary, the radical activist and co-founder of the banned al-Muhajiroun group, was arrested in September 2014 as efforts intensify to disrupt the ideological backers of young British Muslims travelling to fight in foreign conflicts. Mr Choudary was among nine men held on suspicion of supporting a banned terrorist group and encouraging terrorism. The arrests came shortly after Mr Choudary fired off a series of angry tweets after David Cameron called on MPs to back air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria

Oli Scarff/Getty

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

North West Counter Terrorism Unit funds seizing

Police seize £250,000 of cash intended to fund Isis at Manchester Airport and north-west ports. Using powers under the Terrorism Act, the money was confiscated by officers from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit in Ocotber 2014

Getty

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

Tarik Hassane arrest

A medical student who was offered a place at a London university has been named among four men who are being questioned by counter-terror police after a series of raids across the capital. Tarik Hassane, 21, is believed to have been Tasered when he was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a "significant" Islamist terror plot on 7 October 2015

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

Abu Qatada removed from UK

Radical preacher Abu Qatada will not be returning to the UK after being cleared of terror charges in Jordan in 2013

Reuters

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services

Haider Ahmed knife plot

Teenage Isis supporter Haider Ahmed purchased a 15ins hunting knife and threatened to launch a stabbing attack on the Tube. Prosecutors said he may alternatively have been planning to rob someone with the weapon to fund his travel to fight for Isis in Syria He was jailed for preparing an act of terrorism in June 2019

Counter Terrorism Policing South East

It came after America's intelligence chief said there was evidence that Isis terror cells in the UK and other European countries were plotting further attacks in the wake of the Brussels and Paris massacres.

James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, said organised groups of militants are active in Germany, England and Italy.

He said Isis cells embedded in Europe were “fanatics”, with a high level of security in communications that leaves security services struggling to get more than a "snapshot" of their plans.

“We don’t have the total picture all the time – if we did, then the plots would easily be thwarted,” Mr Clapper added.

Several terror arrests have been made in the UK since the start of this year, including four men and a woman from Birmingham who were detained in a joint operation with French and Belgian agencies earlier this month.