New criminal offence to target violence-obsessed suspects before they attack

A powerful new criminal offence to target suspects who are found to be preparing mass killings will ensure their plotting is taken as seriously as terrorism, the home secretary says.

Yvette Cooper said the criminal justice system had to be given new tools to respond to violence-fixated individuals who are not motivated by a particular ideology, in the wake of the Southport attack last year.

Terror suspects who take steps towards an attack can be jailed for life, even if their plans are not fully formed.

Cooper told the BBC that the government will “close the gap” between such offenders and lone, violence-obsessed individuals by giving police the power to apprehend them long before they can act.

Axel Rudakubana is serving a life sentence for murdering three girls when he…