Few terror arrests lead to a conviction

Home Office figures released yesterday revealed a large increase in the number of people in the UK arrested on terror charges. In the year ending 30 June 2017, a total of 379 arrests were made on suspicion of terrorism-related activity - representing a record high and a 68 percent rise year on year.

As our chart shows though, only a small proportion of these arrests led to a terror-related conviction. While 68 people charged were still awaiting prosecution at the end of the period in question, the current total sits at just 28 convictions. The most common outcome of such an arrest is to be released without charge (189).