Ex-public schoolboy jailed for becoming a jihadist and plotting a suicide bombing is denied parole hearing because he’s a danger to society

There are a few jihadis coming before the parole board over the next couple of months; the fear is that a compliant parole board will make decision so as to clear overcrowded prisons, so this decision is welcome. From the Daily Mail. 

Isa Ibrahim, formerly known as Andrew Michael, was given an indeterminate prison sentence with a minimum of ten years in July 2009 after being found guilty of making explosives with intent and preparing terrorist acts.

At the time the police hailed the case as a breakthrough as the key information that identified Ibrahim as a terror threat came from within the Muslim community.   Ibrahim’s extremism did not come to the attention of the authorities until members of a mosque he attended grew worried about his behaviour and contacted Avon and Somerset police.

Ibrahim was given an indeterminate sentence with no end date, meaning he will stay in prison until the Parole Board is satisfied that he is no longer a threat to society. The Parole Board refused his appeal based on information contained in his jail files put together by prison officers, psychologists and doctors.

It is uncommon for a parole application to be refused at this stage and highlights the fact that Ibrahim is still considered a danger to society. He had no chance to argue his case to the three-person panel, which would normally take place via a video link from prison.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: ‘We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board refused the release of Isa Ibrahim following a paper hearing. The panel also refused to recommend a move to open prison.

MailOnline understands that Ibrahim, now 34, was told in May 2022 that he would have to stay behind bars. He will be eligible for another hearing in 2024. By that time, he will have spent 15 years in prison.

Ibrahim was a privileged schoolboy whose transformation into a would-be suicide bomber was a wake-up call for the authorities. Born Andrew Michael in January 1989, he has a Christian Egyptian father who is an NHS consultant pathologist. His mother, Vicky, is English.