New powers to extend the period terrorist suspects can be held without charge will be invoked for the first time next week if Scotland Yard asks the High Court for more time to question the Heathrow bomb plotters.
The powers, which senior Anti-Terrorist Branch officers are expected to capitalise on, came into force on July 25, just 12 days before 24 suspects were arrested on suspicion of plotting to blow up several aeroplanes en route to the US.
The measures were introduced as part of the Terrorism Act 2006 that doubled to 28 days the period terror suspects can be detained for questioning before the police must press charges or release them.
The police will need to invoke the new powers next Wednesday when the 14-day limit on holding the Heathrow suspects expires.
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Police lawyers are due to appear at the City of Westminster Magistrate’s Court today to ask for a seven-day custody extension that will take them to the 14-day limit. Thereafter the police must apply to the High Court, which can grant a further 7 days of questioning extendable once on request to reach the full 28-day quota.
The Terrorism Act, drawn up in the wake of the London terrorist attacks of July 7, 2006, stumbled through parliament amidst cross-party dissent and saw Tony Blair suffer his first House of Commons defeat at the hands of his own backbenchers.
The Prime Minister was forced to water down an original proposal to allow suspects to be held for 90 days after a revolt from 49 Labour MPs. The House of Lords then rejected the Act several times before it was finally passed into law.
The influential House of Commons home affairs committee later criticised the Government’s case for the 90-day rule but conceded that the 28-day limit may have to be increased in the future. Gordon Brown has recently indicated that he would be in favour of raising the limit.
The Act introduced several additional anti-terror measures including the highly controversial glorification of terror offence. This made it a criminal offence to glorify terrorism in the hope of encouraging others to carry out atrocities.
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The measure received widespread condemnation from opponents including prominent human rights groups who accused the Government of exposing legitimate protestors to the risk of prosecution.
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