UK to toughen terrorism laws following knife attack in London

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he will set out tougher rules on releasing people who are convicted of terrorism. The announcement comes after an Islamist attacker injured two citizens in a stabbing spree days after he was set free halfway through his prison term.

Stabbing spree

Sudesh Amman, jailed in 2018 for possession of terrorist documents and disseminating terrorist publications, was shot dead by police on February 2 after he went on the rampage with a stolen 10-inch knife on a busy London street. Following the incident, Johnson said that he would soon announce fundamental changes in methods of handling people who are convicted of terrorism offences, reported international media. 

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Meanwhile, UK’s Interior Minister Priti Patel, while talking to international media said the new measures will be built upon the actions they have already put in place. She added that there would soon be legislation to end the early release of terrorist offenders adding that it was absolutely correct to keep such individuals behind bars. 

Previously, British lawmakers have constantly talked about bringing new and tougher rules on Terrorism. The calls increased after a former convict killed two and injured three before police shot him dead on London Bridge earlier in November. Johnson while talking to media reporters said that since that attack, the government had moved quickly to introduce a package of measures to strengthen every element of our response to terrorism – including longer prison sentences and more money for the police.

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On Sunday, a man was shot dead by armed Scotland Yard officers in south London in a terror-related stabbing incident which injured at least two people. Emergency services, including paramedics and armed police, responded to the incident on Streatham High Road, from where social media images showed plain-clothed policemen pursuing a suspect who was later pronounced dead. "A man has been shot by armed officers in Streatham," the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

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(With inputs from agencies.)