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Imagine the horror of seeing a loved one murdered in the street in a random attack carried out by a complete stranger.

Then think how it would feel to discover the killer had been released early from prison after plotting to blow up dozens of innocent people in an act of violent terrorism.

Picture that, and it’s easy to see why people are angry and afraid after last weekend’s terror attack in Streatham and the murder of two people in November by London Bridge attacker Usman Khan, from Stoke-on-Trent.

On Sunday, 20-year-old Sudesh Amman walked into a shop on Streatham High Road where he is believed to have stolen a knife. He then went back outside and stabbed two people before he was fatally shot by police.

Amman had been jailed for three years in November, 2018 – convicted of possessing and distributing terrorist documents which were designed to inspire and instruct violence and murder.

He was then released automatically, on licence, tagged and under curfew after serving half his sentence, as are most criminals. But Amman was considered so dangerous police kept him under surveillance – and a good job too, because he was shot within 60 seconds of launching an attack which could have been far worse.

In November, Usman Khan, who grew up and lived in Cobridge and Tunstall, stabbed to death two people on London Bridge before being shot and killed by police.

Khan, aged 28, had plotted to blow up the London stock exchange, and in 2012, had been handed an indeterminate sentence for ‘public protection’, with a minimum jail term of eight years.

Khan and his terror cell mates had also discussed blowing up pubs in Stoke-on-Trent.

I remember knocking on doors and speaking to people around his old neighbourhood after his 2012 sentencing. I specifically remember speaking to the elderly couple who lived next door to him in Tunstall.

The elderly gentleman told me: “How can they think blowing up pubs, killing ordinary people, is going to achieve anything? They are evil. They want locking up and throwing away the key.”

It’s clear – especially with all the benefits of hindsight – that Khan should not have been released.

I believe justice should be a punishment and a deterrent. But for all but the very worst offenders, there should also be a chance of redemption.

Could someone like Khan ever be redeemed? A man who was clearly serious about killing innocent people? Probably not.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try – and if someone who had been prevented from committing an act of terrorism, after serving a lengthy sentence, was to then change their mindset so completely and genuinely that they were to denounce it, that would create a powerful message.

In response to Khan’s attack on London Bridge, the Government said it would end the automatic early release from prison of terror offenders. After the Streatham attack, it was announced emergency legislation would be rushed through to stop early release before a shopkeeper from Sunderland, Mohammed Zahir Khan, is freed at the end of this month, half way through his four-and-a-half year sentence for encouraging terrorism.

I wouldn’t want to live next-door to anyone convicted of a terror offence. I wouldn’t want to live next-door to a convicted murderer or a sex offender either.

I have no problem with anyone convicted of terror offences serving their full sentence, or a longer one. It’s a deserved punishment.

But all but the most deadly of killers will be released one day.

(Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)

Sudesh Amman hadn’t killed anyone before last week, and even without early release, he would have been out by summer 2021, under current sentencing guidelines. There’s a fair chance he would have stabbed someone anyway, and the change in the law would have only delayed his attack.

Others convicted of similar offences may never again trouble the law.

So what can be done? I don’t pretend to have any insight into strategies that will end the war on terror, but it’s clear it’s a complex problem which requires multiple solutions – and tougher prison sentences to provide a greater deterrent are just a part of that, and should be combined with education.

Police and the counter-terrorist agency MI5 must have the resources to detect and prevent attacks, and to monitor suspected terrorists.

Communities need to be vigilant and take responsibility to steer young people away from extremism.

Groups like Prevent, which actively combat violent extremism are essential.

None of this is as simple as it sounds in these times of austerity. But it’s also important to remember what terrorists hope to achieve. They want to spread terror – it’s in the name – and to divide communities.

Usman Khan wasn’t fighting for a better society. He just murdered two people, and wanted to kill a lot more.

Eight years ago, as I sat chatting with Khan’s next-door neighbours, the lady of the house said to me: “I hope other Asian families don’t get persecuted because of what these men have done.”

Terrorists are just murderers. They want to inspire racism and fear because that divides and separates communities. They must not succeed.