Nearly 500 suspects obsessed with school massacres have been referred to anti-extremism programme Prevent over the past three years
- 499 cases were scrutinised by the Prevent scheme over the past three years
- Individuals were flagged over their interest in multiple murders at schools
- New data showed 80 were referred to Prevent over interest in ‘incel’ ideology
Nearly 500 suspects who were obsessed with school massacres have been referred to the Government’s flagship anti-extremism programme.
The Home Office published a breakdown for the first time showing there were 499 cases scrutinised by the Prevent scheme over the past three years.
The individuals were flagged over their interest in multiple murders at schools, such as cases in the United States including the Virginia Tech shooting, which claimed 33 lives, and Sandy Hook, which claimed 28.
There were 154 individuals referred to Prevent in 2021-22 over their fixation on school murders.
Nearly 500 suspects who were obsessed with school massacres have been referred to the Government’s flagship anti-extremism programme. Pictured: Weatherby pump action shotgun (top) used by Jake Davison next to a police issue tactical single barrel 12-gauge pump action shotgun (below) shown in the inquest into the deaths of five people shot dead by Jake Davison
New data showed that 80 individuals were referred to Prevent over their interest in ‘incel’ ideology in the past two years. The incel, or ‘involuntarily celibate’, ideology typically involves young men who espouse violence against women who they blame for their own unattractiveness. It is thought to have played a role in the case of Plymouth gunman Jake Davison (pictured) who murdered five people with a pump-action shotgun in 2021
Of those, 38 cases scrutinised by an expert panel were deemed serious enough for the individual to be placed on a ‘Channel’ course, which seeks to address their violent ideology.
The Home Office said the cases involved individuals who ‘expressed an interest in extremely violent images and content, including school massacre incidents’.
A spokesman added: ‘This often does not amount to actions to undertake an attack themselves but can be indicative of wider safeguarding concerns and a potential susceptibility to radicalisation.’
The new data also showed that 80 individuals were referred to Prevent over their interest in ‘incel’ ideology in the past two years.
Of those, 77 took place in 2021-22, and 23 went on to be adopted as Channel cases.
All but one of the 77 were male.
The incel, or ‘involuntarily celibate’, ideology typically involves young men who espouse violence against women who they blame for their own unattractiveness.
It is thought to have played a role in the case of Plymouth gunman Jake Davison, who murdered five people, including a young girl, with a pump-action shotgun in Plymouth in 2021.
Davison, 22, had posted a series of hate-fuelled online rants against women.
The Home Office published a breakdown for the first time showing there were 499 cases scrutinised by the Prevent scheme over the past three years. Pictured: Photographs of the component parts of the ‘trap’ shotgun cartridge shown during Davison’s inquest
The individuals were flagged over their interest in multiple murders at schools, such as cases in the United States including the Virginia Tech shooting, which claimed 33 lives, and Sandy Hook, which claimed 28. Pictured: An aerial view of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012
Incel mass murderer was granted a firearms licence despite ‘unhealthy’ gun obsession, inquest hears: Click here to read more
Jake Davison was approved for a licence in 2017 when he was just 18
The Home Office data, published today, showed that in the year to the end of March there were a total of 6,406 referrals to Prevent – and nine out of 10 were male.
For the first time, the education sector made more referrals – just over 2,300 – than the police.
Under-15s are making up an ever-growing proportion of those referred to Prevent.
The figures show 29 per cent of the total, or 1,829 cases, were aged 14 or under.
Under-15s also made up the largest proportion of cases escalated at a Channel panel, with 299 of the total 804 cases deemed serious enough for direct intervention by the authorities.
For the second year running there were more referrals to Prevent involving people suspected of having extreme Right-wing ideologies (1,309) than those suspected of holding Islamist beliefs (1,027).
Extreme-Right wing suspects made up the largest share – 42 per cent – of cases that were escalated to the Channel scheme.
Former Chief Crown Prosecutor for northwest England, Nazir Afzal, warned in 2021 that up to 10,000 men and boys in the UK follow incel forums and may be at risk of radicalisation.
A previous Home Office-backed report said anti-extremism laws had failed to keep pace with dangers posed by ‘rising threats’ such as incels.
The Commission for Countering Extremism said in February 2021 that the woman-hating cult amounted to ‘hateful extremism’ and its followers create a ‘climate conducive to terrorism, hate crime and violence’.
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