In a fast-moving day of developments following on from yesterday’s bombing on a London Tube train at Parsons Green, an eighteen-year-old man has been arrested and investigators have searched a home in Sunbury in Surrey. The man, who has not been named, was arrested on suspicion of terror-related crimes in Dover on the south coast of England. He was thought to have been attempting to board a ferry out of the country. His arrest prompted an evacuation of Dover Port and a number of items were seized at the scene, while the search at a property in Sunbury caused the temporary evacuation of nearby residents. Locals said that the property was owned by an elderly couple, Ronald and Penelope Jones, aged 88 and 71. The couple are well known as foster parents and in 2010 were awarded MBEs by the Queen for their fostering work. A neighbour, Anne Wilkins – who said she was “shaking like a jelly” when she was told to leave her home by armed police – described the scene:
“As I walked out of my house I saw three armed officers. One had a balaclava on, all I could see were his eyes, I was really frightened.”
Arrested under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act, the man was detained at 7.50am this morning and the Home Secretary Amber Rudd hailed the arrest as very significant and a major breakthrough in the investigation.
Fears of another attack following on from yesterday’s attack, in which 30 people are now reported to have been injured, means that the terror threat level will remain at critical for the time being. Investigators cannot yet rule out another attack or whether more than one person was involved in yesterday’s attack. This morning’s arrest led directly to the searching of a home in Surrey at lunchtime today. Speaking of this morning’s developments, the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu, said:
“We have made a significant arrest in our investigation this morning. Although we are pleased with the progress made, this investigation continues and the threat level remains at critical.
“The public should remain vigilant as our staff, officers and partners continue to work through this complex investigation. We are not, at this time, changing our protective security measures and the steps taken to free up extra armed officers remain in place.
“This arrest will lead to more activity from our officers. For strong investigative reasons we will not give any more details on the man we arrested at this stage.”
Islamic State have claimed responsibility for yesterday’s bombing, but this isn’t unusual even if in reality they have nothing to do with it other than perhaps influencing through their propaganda and recruiting tactics those actually responsible for the attack. Investigators, however, are focusing on the likely motivation for the bombing was jihadist ideology and extremism.
The religious ideology of the arrested teenager, if any, have not been revealed but we will almost certainly discover in due course that he is a Muslim who has at some point been radicalised enough to carry out such an attack. If recent attacks are anything to go by, he will likely be British-born or British-naturalised who may have converted to or returned to Islam. Like other attackers we may discover that he became radicalised via the internet or a rogue Imam or mosque and has been radicalised to believe that revenge against Britain for its interventions in the Middle East and elsewhere will give him a guaranteed path to martyrdom and heaven. All this assumes that the man arrested is the bomber.
If he isn’t then his arrest may still provide vita clues to investigators who will be examining his home, speaking to his friends and family and investigating his phone and internet activity. Any of these may provide the vital lead to leads to the bomber or to anyone else involved. It seems likely, however, that as investigators are said to have CCTV footage of the bomber then it is increasingly likely that the man arrested is the bomber. That could be unusual as in recent attacks the perpetrators have died in the execution of their attack or have been shot dead by police immediately after. If the suspect is the bomber then new opportunities will open up for investigators and the security services tackling this latest attack and potential future attacks.
It is still not clear whether the bomb yesterday exploded at its intended target. The fact that it seems to have only partly detonated and the strange choice of Parsons Green, if that was the target, suggest that it may have detonated prematurely. The fact that it only partly detonated also saved many lives. This is the fifth terrorist attack in the UK in 2017 but only the first in which there were no fatalities. All but a handful of the thirty people injured in the bombing yesterday have now been discharged from hospital.
Armed police and soldiers continue to patrol key sites, predominantly in London. Operation Temperer, which allows soldiers to be used on the streets in order to free up police officers for other duties, is being progressively increased. The BBC’s Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw says that Operation Temperer is largely focused on London and is not to the same extent as followed the Manchester Arena bombing in May at which 22 people died when a suicide bomber detonated his device at a concert of American singer Ariane Grande.
Sources & Further Reading:
- Parosns Green bombing: police arrest man and raid Surrey home – theguardian.com – Saturday 16 September 2017
- Parsons Green bombing: what we know so far – theguardian.com – Saturday 16 September 2017
- Parsons Green – Armed police search house over Tube bombing – bbc.co.uk – Saturday 16 September 2017
STEPHEN NULTY 