saying that it's wrong to imprison for "downloading information on to his computer" is just plain shortsighted. Should we wait until this man kills one or a hundred people before we act ? Should we wait until just before he presses the button before we act ? Should we wait until he has recruited others, disseminated his collection of information and formulated a plan before we act ? At what point should we intervene ? Paedophiles are convicted for "downloading information" aren't they ? Applying your logic, you are saying that their 'thought crimes' are also acceptable. We wouldn't wait until they act before arresting them would we ? I think that it is right to have 'honeypot' traps for these people. Hunt them down, entrap them, inform on your neighbours if you are suspicious, make their plans as difficult to execute as possible. People with nothing to hide have nothing to fear.

AndyC, hounslow, UK

As a man who has lived and worked in the Middle East for a good many years, I would recommend that ony-one who claims not to understand the: "Jihadi" mentality, or who considers the media coverage of it to be propaganda, should take the trouble to actually READ the Quaran,.(Koran) Then they will understand the chilling truth of the situation. The book contains no central dogma as do the assorted Christian Bibles. It is uncompromising, unfeeling and unforgiving to those who refuse to call themselves the slaves of God. But there is no earthly dicipline to be applied, each of the faithful must draw his (or her) own conclusions as to what constitutes a fitting interpretation of the so called words of god, from the translation of them, to who they were intended to be heard by.

John Barter, Blackpool - Lancashire, England

I agree totally with Chris.

In 2007 Government & Public Agencies, data bases should be capable of interacting with each other.

i.e. Immigration and employment data should be accessable by the Police. One of the first checks that should be done on an employment application is whether a candidate is entitled to work, especially if they are applying to one of the 43 U.K. Police departments.
If that is not posssible. Why not?
"Elementary, my dear Watson!"

Pat van der Veer, Liverpool, England

Is it not obvious? Plant sites on the web with bomb making ideas and when they download the software it automatically sends back details of what these people are looking at and who they are talking to thereafter. I would be utterly amazed if this hadn't been happening for some time. Now if they know this they will of course develop simple ways round it but if they are in the dark they won't. Pretty obvious stuff really. Why else do the Americans tolerate 70% of all these sites being on servers in their territory? Do the yanks think we are all divs? What will the yanks do when the net dissappears and people really can talk one to one without them knowing using directional wireless technology? That is the world they have to start planning for and you can't do that with guns and propping up the terrorist state of israel. That is when reality truly will bite, ..... and they don't have long before it does.

John, Dundee, UK

I'm not clear what his 'terrorist links' are. Perhaps if they were spelled out I'd change my opinion but ,so far, he looks like a criminal and a fantasist to me, albeit one who may have proved dangerous.

Presumably he wasn't convicted solely for having dubious or tasteless material on his computer; you could arrest every maladjusted teenager in the country on that basis. That stuff is just lying around on the internet.

I don't think he was a sleeper. I think he was a dreamer.

hakluyt, cambridge,

The aspect of this that troubles me is that you have an individual who is basically being put in prison for downloading information to his computer. No act, no implements, just documents on his hard drive. The immigration violations and money laundering should be punished, and he should be deported, but why prosecute someone for thought-crimes and associating with bad elements?

Yuri Guri, Los Angeles, California

To Arnold Ward,

15 years is the maximum sentence for "Possession for terrorist purposes", it was raised to 15 years from 10 years in 2005. I'm not certain, but the article might be wrong about the 15 years anyway, because he was found guilty of money laundering as well. I guess it depends whether the sentences are maximum and whether they run consecutively.

Stephen Paulger, Lincoln, England

This more recent brand of terrorist do not often leave a detectable or easily predictable trail for investigators to follow.

Unfortunaley, frequently it is only after an event, that they can be studied & the cues then made more visible.

We desperately need to be able to create in the U.K.,an easily accessible and understandable psychological profile, in order to be able to select who to flag up & just who to keep an eye on.
The cost of monitoring the number of suspects with no prior record of offences would be cost and resource manpower prohibitive.
A known associates trigger/link on a Police system data base would be a start. Such a system has been out there for the past ten years or more...I have worked with one such system & it proves incredibly valuable.

Pat van der Veer, Liverpool, England

Why on earth was he allowed to stay in this country, having travelled from the Netherlands (of all places) to claim asylum? It seems that there has been a dereliction of duty by the authorities, or have I missed something?

Cathy , Bristol, UK

What a joke! Doesn't this just make a mockery of our so called immigration policies. How can anyone be given asylum coming from a EU country and then pandering to political correctness while the nation withers and loses its identity.
10 Years of Labout have led to this debacle.

E Hamilton, London,

Why only 15 years?

Arnold Ward, Weybridge, Surrey, UK

Be really galling if someone added up what he and his family will cost us UK taxpayers. I'll bet it'd be into the £millions.

Returning them all to Iraq or Yemen would seem much more appropriate. He sounds he'd readily find like minded believers.

Dr David Jenkins, Weybridge, UK

If he came from the Netherlands to claim asylum, then surely under EU rules he should have immediately been returned there? I see from his immigration card that he was prohibited from working in the UK, so why was he allowed to seek employment with Greater Manchester Police and a local college? Our immigration departments are not a joke - they are not funny at all, purely inefficient.

Chris D, Edinburgh, Scotland