Man arrested on suspicion of terrorist acts recalled to prison as London Bridge attack prompts review

Counter terror police say there is no information detained man was involved in deadly attack in captial

A man who was convicted in 2012 over a bomb plot with the London Bridge attacker has been arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts.

The 34-year-old was arrested in Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday in connection with a wider ongoing review of existing licence conditions of convicted terrorism offenders, West Midlands Police said.

Inquiries by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit into the suspected terrorism offences are continuing.

The man is reported to be Nazam Hussain, who along with London Bridge attacker Usman Khan was jailed over a foiled terror plot in 2012.

An urgent review has been launched by the Ministry of Justice after Khan, 28, who was living in Stafford, killed two people in a knife attack at a conference on prisoner rehabilitation held at Fishmongers’ Hall on Friday afternoon.

He had been released from prison on licence in December 2018 and was wearing an electronic monitoring tag when he was shot dead by police after the rampage.

The prime minister, Boris Johnson has said there are 74 convicted terrorists in the UK who have been freed from prison on early release.

Detectives said there was no information to suggest the man arrested on Sunday had been involved in the attack in the capital.

“A search warrant was conducted last night in connection to a wider ongoing review of existing licence conditions of convicted terrorism offenders,” the force added in a statement.

Khan was convicted of terror offences in February 2012 and handed an indeterminate sentence for public protection, with a minimum term of eight years, meaning he could have been kept in prison for as long he was deemed to be a threat to the public.

The sentence was quashed at the Court of Appeal in April 2013 and he was given a determinate 16-year jail term, with a five-year extended licence period, under legislation which meant he was released automatically halfway through the sentence.

Sentencing law changed later in 2012, and if Khan was given the same sentence today he would have had to serve at least two-thirds of it.

Additional reporting by Press Association