A senior government advisor has issued a stark warning about the growing presence of dangerous Islamic gangs within British prisons. The Mail has the story.
Jonathan Hall KC, the Government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, described Muslim gangs as “a deep seated phenomenon” in jails.
The leading barrister first highlighted the pressure on inmates to convert to Islam to get protection in a 2022 report which he authored into terrorism in prisons.
He revealed how Islamic terrorists sometimes used gangs to seize control of prison wings, and to impose sharia law on prisoners including flogging.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Mr. Hall said: “What I found was that gangs were a deep seated phenomenon and expected as part of the prison landscape.
“There were a combination of circumstances which have led to Muslim gangs becoming the principal, and central gangs for people who ultimately wanted protection.”
The adviser echoed claims made this week by convicted murderer Steve Gallant, a hero of the London Bridge terror attack, that prisoners were being threatened with violence to convert.
Mr. Hall said: “There is an inevitable pressure in prisons for people to join a group. If the current flavour is Muslim, it could lead to them joining.
“If you have an emir at the top of a prison gang who is a terrorist offender or strongly radicalised, then the risk of people joining this group, even just for protection, could result in them being radicalised.”
Ministry of Justice figures recently revealed there were 15,584 Muslim prisoners in England and Wales last September compared to just 3,681 in 1997.
The increase of 323% presents a large pool of potential recruits to Muslim gangs in jails which are described by Mr. Hall as being “highly structured” with growing influence.
The figures disclose that 18% of all inmates now identify as Muslim, nearly three times the 6.5% in the general U.K. population.
Last month it was revealed that 3,096 Muslim inmates, nearly one in five, were white, compared to just 7.8% of Muslims being white in the wider community.
Mr. Hall’s report called Terrorism in Prisons described the “impact of Islamic groups” as being “under appreciated for too long by the authorities”.
He compared prison “gangs and hierarchies” to being like “a massive squash ladder” which individuals join for reasons of “safety, fear and protection and power”, as well as for criminal opportunities such as drug-dealing.
Mr Hall also highlighted how gangs could provide sometimes lonely or depressed inmates with a sense of identity or fellowship while serving a long sentence.
He added: “Viewed in this way, Islamist group behaviour has come to be seen as part of the prison landscape.” …
Government faith adviser Colin Bloom recommended an urgent review of prisoners being coercively converted or radicalised in his independent report last year, entitled: Does Government ‘do God?’
His report uncovered “alleged cases of coercive conversion, illegal religious courts giving punishment to other prisoners, violent faith-based gangs and the spread of extremist material”.
Mr. Bloom said he had been repeatedly told that the phrase “convert, or get hurt” was used by some Muslim gangs in jails.
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