David Leppard
Download 'Too Hot', an exclusive Specials track from iTunes

SCHOOLCHILDREN as young as 13 are being “groomed” for terrorism by Islamic extremists in the heartland of the 7/7 suicide bombers, according to Britain’s most senior police officer charged with countering radicalisation.
Sir Norman Bettison, chief constable of West Yorkshire, said some bright children entering secondary school were picking up extremist messages from internet chat rooms and people who wanted to turn them into terrorists.
His force has now identified at least 10 youngsters – including two 13-year-olds – as “vulnerable” and formally referred them to a programme to wean them away from radicalism.
Bettison’s officers, who cover the areas where Mohammad Sidique Khan and his three fellow bombers grew up, approached their parents to offer them help and the chance to put them through the voluntary programme after becoming increasingly worried by the direction they were taking.
Bettison, responsible for developing a national strategy aimed at preventing Islamic radicalisation, said: “We are talking about children who have just entered senior school.
“They are not picking up the message of violent extremism from the mosques but from individuals who are seeking to radicalise them. It’s the bright kids who are the ones that might be most vulnerable.”
The “channel programme” that Bettison has begun involves a team of five full-time community field officers working among West Yorkshire’s 225,000 Muslims to identify those being preyed upon by radicals.
Officers talk to schools, social services and Muslim groups. They are looking for children who show an obsessive interest in violent jihadist material, on the internet or in bookshops.
Since the programme began four months ago they have identified people aged between 13 and 27 to put through the antiradicalisation programme.
The majority of these are believed to be schoolchildren who have shown vulnerability to extremist behaviour. A spokeswoman for the force said the two 13-year-olds were a Muslim boy and a white youngster identified as having extreme right-wing tendencies.
The programmes involved talking to parents and inviting the young people to join in activities such as youth football schemes run by Bradford City football club, table tennis and classes in citizenship and confidence-building.
Police say that future courses could include taking participants to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland to learn about the Holocaust.
Bettison said the radicalisers were among the 2,000 suspected terrorists who were being monitored by police and MI5.
He added: “We need to do more to stop people from taking those first steps into the world of violent extremism.”
There is growing concern among counter-terrorism officials that Islamic extremists are trying to recruit children at an ever younger age.
In November, Jonathan Evans, director-general of MI5, said Islamic extremists had tried to recruit children as young as 15. “They are radicalising, indoctrinating and grooming young, vulnerable people to carry out acts of terrorism. This year we have seen individuals as young as 15 and 16 implicated in terrorist-related activity,” he said.
Bettison’s remarks indicate that police are now identifying much younger children as vulnerable to the Al-Qaeda message.
The channel scheme originated in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, and has been run as a pilot in Lambeth, south London, and in Lancashire.
The Home Office is watching the programme and it is expected that it may be put into action in other parts of the country later this year.
Detective Chief Superintendent John Parkinson, who runs the police counter-terrorism unit in the northeast alongside MI5’s regional office, said that traditional policing methods alone were insufficient to tackle the threat of terrorism.
“If we can try and get in front of it, upstream of it, instead of just kicking in doors and arresting those who have started to plan violence, then we can do something about it,” he said.
Win a luxury weekend to Newcastle and its neighbour Gateshead, find out more here
Risk, resilience and embracing new technology
Industry sectors news at a glance. Interactive heatmap, video and podcast
Discover the power of collective thinking. Submit a solution and be in with a chance to win a Media Hub Home Entertainment System
The inside track on current trends in the charity, not for profit and social enterprise sectors
Everything the Business Traveller needs to know to make a better trip
Make the most of the summer and enter our fabulous photographic competition, you could win a £5000 holiday
Corsica is an island of beauty and contrast, an ideal holiday destination
Enjoy further reading from Travel to Fashion, Business to Sport, discover more
Shortcuts to help you find sections and articles
The clever way to lease a new car is with Car leasing made simple™
2009
per month on 36-month
Personal Contract Hire (PCH)
2008
42850
Car Insurance
£24,250 - £30,346
MI5
London
£60,000
The Environment Agency
Bristol
Up to £90K
Boots
Midlands
OTE £85k
Credit Protection Association
Nationwide Opportunities
Completely London
Luxury Condo's in Manhattan with NYC views
The best new homes in Wimbledon?
Nationwide
Fabulous Cruise And Cruise & Stay Offers Including Virgin Atlantic Flights Prices Start From Only £699pp!
Last Minute Cruise And Cruise & Stay Offers. Med From £499pp, Caribbean From £699pp!
5 star quality at a 3 star price.
8 fabulous Canadian cities ...you won’t find cheaper
Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times, or place your advertisement.
Times Online Services: Dating | Jobs | Property Search | Used Cars | Holidays | Births, Marriages, Deaths | Subscriptions | E-paper
News International associated websites: Globrix Property Search | Property Finder | Milkround
Copyright 2009 Times Newspapers Ltd.
This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard Terms and Conditions. Please read our Privacy Policy.To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online, The Times or The Sunday Times, click here.This website is published by a member of the News International Group. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69.
Tiny minorty; Nothing to do with Islam, etc., etc.
Alan, Edinburgh,
3. Teach Muslims to coexist peacefully as equals with non-Muslims on an indefinite basis. 4. Begin programs in Mosques to teach against ideas of violent jihad and Islamic supremacy. 5. Muslims work with law enforcement officials to identify and apprehend jihadists
Gloria, Manchester, UK
Hey Joe, I know of a way to counter Islamophobia. 1. Muslims should stop committing acts of violence in the name of Islam. 2. Renounce not just terrorism but any intention to replace UK law with Sharia, even by peaceful means.
Gloria, Manchester, UK
Continued .Thailand, Pakistan, Israel, Lebanon, Yemen, Philippines, Ethiopia and India.
Stu, Leeds, UK
Alex, you talk of moral panic and buzzword terror like Islamic terrorism is some made-up police term to keep us in check. I have news for you, it does exist, and it is a threat to our security. This week alone there have been attacks by Islamic bombers in Algeria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq....
Stu, Leeds, UK
Joe of Brisbane who wrote "you can feel the overflowing compassion and love as soon as you are within 15 feet of their presence," you must be particularly thick-skinned. In my case I can feel it within 300 feet of their presence! Overwhelming, mate, BLOODY overwhelming.
Jim, Melbourne, Australia
This is slander on ISLAM. It is blatant Islamophobia, and should be dealt with by a Court of Law.
All of the Muslims I have ever met are filled with peace and love, and you can feel the overflowing compassion and love as soon as you are within 15 feet of their presence.
Joe, Brisbane, Australia
utter rubbish - 'grooming' an extremely rare event in the complex world of internet sex - being misused for effect, moral panic and buzzword terror. The article peppers itself with hedges and disclaimers, 'might' and could', yet the message received by the appalling posters here is anything but.
alex stuart, London, UK
Close down mosques, Islamic schools, and Islamic book shops. Deport all hard-line preachers back to their country (or country of origin) - job done! All we want is peace in this country.
Thomas, Cardiff, Wales
Pray what is the west Yorkshire police doing about teenage drinkers and knife killers making life hell for most law abiding citizens who are mostly from a Judaeo-Christian background?
izhar, aberdeen,
Yunus, how many of the "million dead" were killed by Muslims of differing branches of Islam ?
Edward Johns, Lannion, France
Yunus, a large majority of Iraqi and Afghani war dead are the result of Islamic insurgents doing what they do best killing civilians.
sue, london, uk
From my experience of working with young people between the ages of 11 & 16, I find that many of them have little sense of identity, purpose , belonging or regular positive & meaningful contacts/conversations with adults.
This leaves a void in their lives for gangs & extremist recruiters.
Ross, Liverpool , England
Yunus please with the million dead angle. The Uk, US or France didn’t lose that many men during World War two. Now that was a war where the industries of the whole wide world was devoted to killing each other. Now if the three countries I listed couldn’t lose 1 million men during a World War that lasted 6 years pray tell how 1 million people could have died in Iraq in 5 years ?
Steve Jones, leeds, England
Andy in Nottingham, Islamic terrorism is a problem the world over. You can blame it on racism and military occupation, but does this explain Islamic bombings in Thailand, Philippines, Kenya, Yemen, Pakistan, India and all the other countries of the world where these people do their work?
jon, london, uk
Disgusting. Why is it that we have can have Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Christians, and even Jedi Knights living side by side in harmony, but one religious group, which shall not be named, constantly churns out radicals. Could it be something to do with their Holy Book and places of worship?
jon, london, uk
Islam is 10% religion, and 90% 7th century fascist Gestapo. Political correctness and multiculturalism deceive us into seeing only the religious aspect while denying the fascist aspect.
Soon the UK will look like Beirut.
Bob Smith, Chicago, USA
Reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange. The Home Office must even now be dusting off its set of Beethoven's Ninth. If the police truly have identified radicalisers under the 2000 they are monitoring, they could get them under anti-terror legislation. Deradicalisation is untested social engineering.
susie, west london, UK
225,000 Mohammedans - there is no hope for Britain's future unless all 225,000 are sent back to their countries of origin (mostly Pakistan). Then many of the British people who have left Britain will come back to re-establish a normal society again. Diversity = death. Diversity = the end.
Carl, Land's End, USA
Does this Orwellian "antiradicalisation programme" teach children as young as 13 to agree with UK foreign policy and US imperialism, whilst denying the reality of a million Iraqi dead and more innocent Afghanis killed than in 9/11? And down the road, the BNP freely teach goose stepping!
Yunus, Huddersfield, UK
Why are these muslims allowed to radicalise children?
The government should stop playing cat and mouse with these islamofascist.
Their problem is not with British foreign policy , their problem is islam. It's an unreconstructed sexist , racist , homophobic , political movement. islam must reform.
Eric Muldownie, London,
Surely the real story here is that police are spying on young children who have committed no crime, based on their beliefs or interests. Label them terrorists young and they'll make sure that's what they become. Address the real causes instead - racism and military occupations.
Andy, Nottingham, UK
If this had happened in London until recently, they could have applied for a grant from Ken Livingstone.
I wonder if the "white youngster identified as having 'extreme' right-wing tendencies" is unhappy about his classmates with "obsessive interest in violent jihadist material". What a country.
P. Williams, London, England