UK's 'lone wolf epidemic' warning with youngsters radicalised 'within weeks'

THE UK is in the midst of a “lone wolf epidemic” with the majority of terrorist attacks being conducted by individuals, according to research.

- By Conor Wilson

It showed that 93% of fatal attacks in the West over the past five years were carried out by someone acting alone. Alarmingly, nearly half of all terror arrests in the UK last year involved under-18s - more than double the proportion seen across Europe.

Steve Killelea, chairman of think tank the Institute for Economics and Peace, said: “The key thing the research found is that a lot of lone wolf attackers are youths.

“Of arrests in the UK, 42% are under 18 years of age but if we look at Europe, that is just 20%.”

Nearly two-thirds of Islamic State-linked arrests in Europe involved teenagers, with radicalisation occurring online at an alarming rate, the report said. It also found attacks in the West doubled last year.

Blamed

Mr Killelea added: “The time it takes for people to radicalise is decreasing and that creates all sorts of issues for intelligence services.