𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Britain must leave the ECHR to prevent terrorists using human rights laws to plot carnage behind bars, the Daily Express has been told.

The terror watchdog, Jonathan Hall, revealed how jihadis are gaming the system to force prison chiefs to let them congregate behind bars.

The extremists successfully claimed they should not be held in Separation Centres – despite fears they could radicalise others and spark a security crisis.

Mr Hall warned some of the country’s most dangerous criminals will exploit a series of rulings to “argue that they should be allowed out with this one, and not with that one, and that any decision they disagree with is contrary to Article 8”.

Politicians warned this “loophole” will lead to taxpayers shelling out millions in compensation for “evil criminals exploiting our broken human rights laws”, adding it illustrates why the UK must leave the ECHR.

Robert Jenrick, of Reform UK, declared “there’s a serious risk an officer might be killed”, while Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the ECHR “enables an activist legal culture” that allows criminals to have an “easy ride” behind bars.

Pointing to three cases, Mr Hall detailed how the “application” of Article 8 has “sprawled over the last few years”.

Nadir Syed, who plotted to behead someone on the street, claimed his rights were being hindered because he was segregated.

This is after a group of prisoners, including Syed, chanted “Allahu Akbar” and suggested they would behead a prison officer.

And a double murderer who also held a prison officer hostage, Fuad Awale, was sensationally awarded compensation after claiming he suffered from depression when he was denied contact with other prisoners.

Awale had been transferred to a special unit for the UK’s most dangerous prisoners in 2013 after he and another inmate ambushed the officer and threatened to kill him.

In a judgment from the High Court, judge Mrs Justice Ellenbogan concluded that Awale’s rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been breached.

“The degree of interference with the claimant’s private life which has resulted from his removal from association has been of some significance and duration,” she wrote.

Mr Hall added: “In this case, the prisoner wanted to associate with a terrorist prisoner and he unreasonably refused to associate with the prisoner identified as a safe associate.”

And Islamist convert and convicted murderer Denny De Silva – said to be an “extremist enforcer” – was sent to a separation unit but complained to the High Court that limiting access to the gym, library, and educational opportunities violated his right to a private life under the European Court of Human Rights. He won the case

Mr Jenrick told the Daily Express: “Who controls our prisons: Governors or the prisoners? Right now, in many of our prisons, extremely violent prisoners and Islamist radicalisers rule the roost. It’s become so bad that there’s a serious risk an officer might be killed.

“The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall, has warned that this is a loophole that other terrorists will exploit.

“It raises the very real prospect that millions of pounds of taxpayer money will be misspent on evil criminals exploiting our broken human rights laws. Instead of introducing emergency legislation to fix this, Calamity Lammy is dawdling, delaying action by commissioning pointless ‘reviews’. It’s not good enough.

“The only way to resolve this disgrace and get back control of our prisons is to leave the ECHR.”

Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary: “The Daily Express is right to back withdrawal from the ECHR.

“What was created to stop tyranny has been stretched far beyond its original purpose and now operates as a binding legal constraint on democratic government.

“It routinely overrides Parliament’s will, frustrates the removal of foreign criminals and blocks attempts to protect national security.

“It enables an activist legal culture that treats removal of illegal immigrants from the UK as a potential human rights infringement – no matter the crime, the risk or the cost to the public. And it allows criminals – including some of the worst terrorists – to have an easy ride.

“It is appalling that extremists have been able to use the ECHR to get out of separation centres and to continue mixing with other inmates.

“This creates a security crisis.”

On Tuesday, Justice Secretary David Lammy ruled out leaving the ECHR, claiming doing so “would leave children, the elderly and many vulnerable victims … in the most vulnerable of positions. We cannot and must not do that”.

But he said Labour would consider new laws to restrict how Article 8 is used behind bars.

It comes after Mr Hall warned: “This galloping application of Article 8 has therefore gone from providing additional protection for a prisoner in solitary confinement to prisoners in small units such as Close Supervision Centres and Separation Centres, who either can associate with as many as seven other individuals, or who unreasonably refuse to associate.

“The consequences of putting one dangerous prisoner with another prisoner can be stark, and decision-making must be dynamic.

“It is a surprising result if day-to-day assessment of whether X prisoner can mix with Y prisoner in a Close Supervision Centre requires layers of procedural fairness based on the right to private and family life.

“If, as I recommend, the lowest tier of the Separation Centre system should be a Close Supervision Centre, then I foresee that terrorist prisoners will seek to exploit this ruling to argue that they should be allowed out with this one, and not with that one, and that any decision they disagree with is contrary to Article 8.

“Prison staff must be freed to manage risk without having to second-guess whether and how Article 8 applies in the prison setting.

“In my view, the Government should take steps to limit the application of Article 8. Specifically, Article 8 should not govern decisions on placement into Separation Centres or inter-prisoner association within any part of the Separation Centre system (including within Close Supervision Centres).”