From the Telegraph
A student who tried to murder an MP after being radicalised by an al-Qaeda cleric can be released from prison.
Roshonara Choudhry, then 21, was jailed for life with a minimum of 15 years for stabbing Sir Stephen Timms twice in the stomach in May 2010, and for two offences of possessing an offensive weapon.
The attack on the now social security minister is thought to be the first al-Qaeda inspired attempt to assassinate a politician on British soil. But not the last. Stephen Timms survived and is still working; Sir David Amess wasn’t so lucky.
After she was arrested, she told detectives the stabbing was “punishment” and “to get revenge for the people of Iraq”.
But on May 20, a Parole Board panel decided she could be freed from jail.
A decision summary said: “After considering the circumstances of her offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing and in the dossier, the panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.”
…she had engaged in programmes in prison to understand how her extreme beliefs developed, and her conduct in prison was described as “exemplary”.
The summary added: “Ms Choudhry was assessed as having shown a very high level of insight and understanding of herself. She had consistently shown over many years that she no longer held the same beliefs, that she was able to manage her emotional well-being effectively and she would no longer be likely to be influenced by other people with strong negative views, having developed the ability to critically evaluate information and to seek help from professionals if she needs it.”
The document said the panel did not receive a victim impact statement or representations from the justice secretary (Shabana Mahmood, make of that what you will)
It was recommended that Choudhry be released on licence under conditions such as living at a designated address with a specific curfew and being subject to an exclusion zone to avoid contact with Sir Stephen.
Top comments include
- The only way this person should be released is in order to be immediately deported.
- But please let’s keep Lucy Connolly locked up. We all feel so much safer with her off hte streets. (Sarcasm, by the way.)
- Release a terrorist but keeping Lucy Connolly in prison. I know who represents the least risk to society.
- Protecting the public by locking up mothers and releasing terrorists? Welcome to the UK 2025. You really couldn’t make it up.
- If she is a reformed character why is an exclusion zone needed?
- She’s fine now apparently…just don’t shake hands with her. Seriously, what are the Parole board thinking? She is a dangerous,and convicted terrorist sympathiser
