Prevention of Terrorism

A terrorist, Dhiren Barot, has been jailed for life. The Minister of Unfitness for Purpose, John Reid, observed that Barot's case demonstrates "that the terrorist threat remains very real and serious", a fact many of us might have gathered from the headlines about Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza. The charge against Barot was conspiracy to murder, a charge which existed before the passing of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Barot was tried in a crown court on the basis of hard, legally admissible evidence, which was discovered by police within the fourteen-day maximum period of custody after his arrest in August 2004. He pleaded guilty because the evidence against him was unanswerable, not because the police had been permitted to sweat him for a month or three. According to the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorist head, Barot was a "full-time terrorist" who "used anti-surveillance, coded messages and secret meetings". Nevertheless, although armed police were present at his arrest, no shots were fired and no innocent men harmed; possibly because the 7 July bombings had not taken place, so that professionalism was permitted to overwhelm righteous indignation. It is certainly impressive what the Metropolitan Police used to be able to do as long as their hands were tied.