I agree, the possession of the al-Qaida manual per se could have triggered a terrorism prosecution. The questions is whether it should have. There is a recent example of a far-right activist, Mason Reynolds, being successfully charged with terrorism offences after the same manual was found in his possession. Clearly, for Reynolds, the techniques were of interest not the ideology. I don't know Rudabukana's motives and I suppose the CPS doesn't really either. He clearly had a personal history of violence, and he should have been flagged as a danger to himself and others. In that sense the system failed and the public inquiry the Prime Minister has announced is the appropriate way of investigating those failures.
Ahead of the public inquiry, it seems the CPS' decision that this was not a terrorism was based on the absence of any signs Rudabukana was influenced by extremist Islamist views. He is from what by all accounts is a very respectable family of Christian heritage who themselves raised concerns about his behaviour to the authorities. He had no record of online Islamist radicalisation. He may well have been a deeply disturbed man with a callous disregard for human life who deserves every day of his 52 year jail sentence.
What we need to guard against here - rather like in the case of the grooming gangs - is the deliberate manipulation of a tragic situation, and the injection of misinformation disguised as "legitimate questions", by far-right grifters who want to use these cases to justify their views on immigration and multiculturalism. The fact that Rudabukana's parents are Rwandan migrants, albeit ones of completely clean records since they've been in the UK and that Rudabukana is British by birth and upbringing appears to be no deterrent to their bile.
I agree, the possession of the al-Qaida manual per se could have triggered a terrorism prosecution. The questions is whether it should have. There is a recent example of a far-right activist, Mason Reynolds, being successfully charged with terrorism offences after the same manual was found in his possession. Clearly, for Reynolds, the techniques were of interest not the ideology. I don't know Rudabukana's motives and I suppose the CPS doesn't really either. He clearly had a personal history of violence, and he should have been flagged as a danger to himself and others. In that sense the system failed and the public inquiry the Prime Minister has announced is the appropriate way of investigating those failures.
Ahead of the public inquiry, it seems the CPS' decision that this was not a terrorism was based on the absence of any signs Rudabukana was influenced by extremist Islamist views. He is from what by all accounts is a very respectable family of Christian heritage who themselves raised concerns about his behaviour to the authorities. He had no record of online Islamist radicalisation. He may well have been a deeply disturbed man with a callous disregard for human life who deserves every day of his 52 year jail sentence.
What we need to guard against here - rather like in the case of the grooming gangs - is the deliberate manipulation of a tragic situation, and the injection of misinformation disguised as "legitimate questions", by far-right grifters who want to use these cases to justify their views on immigration and multiculturalism. The fact that Rudabukana's parents are Rwandan migrants, albeit ones of completely clean records since they've been in the UK and that Rudabukana is British by birth and upbringing appears to be no deterrent to their bile.