One-in-five terror arrests last year was a child under 17, MI5 chief says

Children made up one in five terrorist arrests last year, the head of MI5 has revealed (Alamy/PA) -

Children made up a fifth of terror suspects arrested last year, the head of MI5 said, as he launched a new centre to tackle the problem of youngsters drawn to extremist violence.

Sir Ken McCallum said terrorism “breeds in squalid corners of the internet” but the online world could also blur people’s motives, making it hard to assess what drives attackers.