Schoolchildren arrested over links to hostile state plots against Britain

Schoolchildren have been arrested by detectives investigating Russian and Iranian plots against Britain, police chiefs have said, as they warned hostile state aggression was rising and youngsters were at risk.

- Vikram Dodd

Commander Dominic Murphy said children in their mid-teens had been investigated. It is understood they were suspected of being hired by criminals paid to carry out acts for Russia and Iran.

Russia, Iran and China are behind most of the hostile state action Britain faces, police said, which has increased fivefold since 2018 when Russian agents used the military-grade nerve agent Novichok to try to assassinate Sergei Skripal, a defector, in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Murphy said a Prevent-style scheme may be needed amid warnings that hostile state actions – such as targeting dissidents, espionage and sabotage – had risen much more than expected and could grow further.

Murphy, who said Russia used the Wagner group to carry out attacks in Britain, warned: "We are increasingly seeing young people being influenced by the Russian state… that means we do need to think differently about how we might speak to these people about the realities of the risk they are taking."