14 Jun Nottingham attack was terrorism whatever the suspect’s motive, says security expert
THE Nottingham attacks suspect’s actions will be regarded as terrorism by the public whatever his precise motivation was, according to a prominent security expert.
Professor Anthony Glees told GB News: “Counter-terrorism police are now going to go through every shred of evidence to see if there’s any sign of radicalisation, any sign of interference from whoever it may be.
“And I think that is a very good sign, because the bottom line is whatever this guy’s motive, it is terror, and people won’t have it in this country.”
In a discussion with Stephen Dixon, he said: “At first, we were told this was not an incident in which the counter-terrorism police were going to be involved. Police asked us not to speculate but that is, of course, completely impossible in today’s environment.
“As everybody knows, we’ve not only seen scenes of great bravery by the police arresting the suspect, but also the people of Nottingham need to have some kind of reassurance that this incident is being properly understood. And I think that’s why the counter-terrorism police have been involved in this.
“What’s going on? It is the same three things that we’ve been talking about ever since the awful incident took place. It could be a madman, it could be an Islamist fanatic, it could be a right-wing fanatic.
“The news that the alleged suspect is somebody who came to this country lawfully ten years ago from West Africa, as a further issue that will need to be looked at.”
He added: “Of course, we know there are plenty of killers, homegrown British born and bred killers, people who torture their children and murder them and so on. However, the Government has a duty to keep people as safe as possible.
“We’ve had a spate of lone wolf terror attacks. We’ve had them in the United Kingdom, particularly in 2017. There were five that year, of people using vans and knives to kill and maim others.
“We had the attack in Annecy in France just a few days ago. And we know that these people are mad, if there is a Islamist, if they are right-wing fanatics, the idea of a copycat killing will appeal to them.”
