LONDON: Usman Khan, who killed two people in the London Bridge terror attack last week, was a convicted terrorist who had been released halfway through his sentence.
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Prisoners can typically expect to serve around half of their sentence in prison before being released on licence.
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They must adhere to certain conditions, which can involve curfews monitored by an electronic tag and meetings with a probation officer and can be recalled to prison at any time.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday there were probably about 74 people with terror convictions who had been released on licence.
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Their conditions are currently under review.
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Khan’s sentence
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Khan was convicted in January 2012 of engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.
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He had been part of a plot inspired by al-Qaeda to set up a terror camp in Pakistan and bomb the London Stock Exchange.
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Khan was released in December 2018 – less than seven years into a 16-year prison sentence – and was wearing an electronic monitoring tag.
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Britain’s counter-terror police chief Neil Basu said on Saturday that Khan had complied with an “extensive list of licence conditions” following his early release.
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How was Khan released?
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In 2008, the Labour government changed the rules on extended sentences.
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Offenders were automatically released halfway through their sentences rather than being reviewed by a parole board.
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The Conservative-Liberal coalition government changed the rules again in December 2012 so that those serving more than 10 years could be freed only after two-thirds of their sentence and only with the approval of a parole board.
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However, this did not apply to Khan as he was convicted under the previous laws and the new ones were not applied retrospectively.
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What next?
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Johnson is calling for an end to automatic early releases as well as the complete end of release on licence for people convicted of terror offences.
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“If you are convicted of a serious terrorist offence, there should be a mandatory minimum sentence of 14 years – and some should never be released,” he said.
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Johnson also said terror and extremism convicts should serve the full period specified by the judge.
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Jack Merritt was one of the two people murdered by Khan on Friday. The 25-year-old was a course coordinator of the Cambridge University Learning Together prison rehabilitation programme.
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His father David Merritt said his son “would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily”.
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