LONDON: Convicted terrorists in the UK could face mandatory polygraph, or lie detector, tests on release from prison as part of a recommended overhaul of how authorities deal with those convicted of terror offences.
The measure is one of 45 recommendations in a review published Wednesday, which was commissioned following the London Bridge attack in 2019.
The independent review into Britain’s Multi-Agency Public Protections Arrangements (MAPPA), led by Senior Barrister Jonathan Hall, also called for a “cultural shift” in how information regarding those convicted of terror offences was shared, Sky News reported.
Convicted terrorist Usman Khan, 28, stabbed to death Cambridge University graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, at Fishmonger’s Hall in November during a prisoner rehabilitation conference before fleeing and being killed by police on London Bridge.
Khan had previously been released from prison on license for more than a year after serving half of his 16-year sentence, and it was believed he was being monitored by electronic tag after leaving jail.
The review discovered shortcomings in how released terrorists were monitored, including the use of tools that “severely minimized” the seriousness of their crimes, and found that communication between police, the British prison service and probation officers was dominated by “information exchange” rather than “active management” of individual cases.
Hall said British police forces had a “surprisingly limited” local knowledge about such offenders.
Terrorists who performed badly during polygraph testing would face further restrictions or supervision, the review suggested.
Chris Philp, a minister at the UK’s Home Office, said he was “already legislating” for the polygraph measure.
In a statement, Philp said: “Jonathan Hall found that MAPPA is a well-established process and did not conclude that wholesale change is necessary.
“He has made a number of recommendations on how the management of terrorists can be improved and the government, police and Prison and Probation Service have been working on changes in line with many of them.”
Earlier this year, the British government approved one of the biggest reforms of terror sentencing and monitoring for several years, with those convicted of the most serious offences facing a minimum of 14 years in prison and up to 25 years on license after release.
However, Scottish Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf has rejected the recommendation of polygraph testing in Scotland because she is “unconvinced” of the merits of the policy, according to the Sun newspaper.
A King’s College London study released in July found that the practice of “false compliance” — by which inmates in British prisons convicted of terror offences deceive officials into believing they are reformed — was widespread in UK jails.
