Innocent youth worker calls on force to apologise after he was detained at Luton airport on way to family holiday in Turkey

The Metropolitan police are investigating how an innocent Muslim youth worker was wrongly arrested and detained on suspicion of terrorist activity while on his way to a family holiday in Turkey.

The 35-year-old man from Luton, who has asked not to be named in order to protect his five young children aged between nine months and 11 years, has called on the Met to apologise for their actions.

The man, who promotes community cohesion and works with young people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, and abides by the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme as part of his job, says his career has been tarnished by the arrest.

Mahmoud [not his real name] said he was stunned to be told he was being arrested on suspicion of terrorism. “I was shocked. I have never been arrested or in trouble with the police in my life. I just broke down when they said that to me.”

Mahmoud’s family had been on their way to a last-minute half-term holiday in Turkey when they were stopped by officers from the Met’s counter-terrorism command. Mahmoud and his wife, also 35, were arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts.



He said: “The police tarnished my career and broke me into pieces. If the police can do this to someone like me then no one is safe. I believe I was targeted because of my religion, there can be no other reason. I’m too scared to go back to an airport and don’t think I’ll ever fly again.”

Mahmoud’s extended family had planned the holiday in Turkey and at the last minute he, his wife and their five children decided to join them. He searched online for the cheapest package staying at the same hotel as his relatives and found a deal flying to Turkey with easyJet and returning to Luton with Thomson.

When the family arrived at Luton airport on 26 October last year police officers arrested him under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which has broad powers to stop and search and hold individuals at ports, airports and international rail stations.

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He says he was accused of only having a single air ticket and so was suspected of trying to travel to Syria to join Islamic State. He showed all his travel documentation including his return air ticket and explained why he was flying back from Turkey with a different airline. He also handed over his phone and pin and told police they could search for anything they wanted on it.



Mahmoud said he was handcuffed and that police treated him like an animal during the time he was under arrest at the airport. They did not remove the cuffs when he went to the toilet.

“I asked them to remove the cuffs but instead an officer accompanied me to the toilet cubicle and pulled my trousers down so I could go to the toilet.”

He was then taken to Southwark police station in London, where he learned his house had been raided by police when he was allowed to call his sister.

At the police station he was questioned before being released the following day.



“The police asked me what my view was about Isis. I said I had a negative view of them, that I live in a democratic country and work to deradicalise young people. Our religion is about peace and tranquility. It does not promote the things Isis stands for,” Mahmoud said.



“When the police said they would be taking no further action that was it for them, but I’m now left trying to rebuild my life.”

He added: “We are supposed to have one of the best intelligence services in the world. How could they not see that I had booked a last-minute family holiday and that the best deal I was offered involved flying with two different airlines.”

His solicitor, Attiq Malik of Liberty Law Solicitors, said: “Bearing in mind the volume of information my client gave police they didn’t need to arrest him. I’m concerned that people are being targeted on the basis of race and religion. We have complained to the MPS that my client was unlawfully arrested and detained and falsely imprisoned in breach of his human rights.”

In 2015-16, 28,083 people were stopped and examined under schedule 7. Of those detained, 36% were Asian, 8% black and 12% white.

A Met spokesman confirmed the man and his wife had been arrested last year “on suspicion of the preparation of terrorist acts contrary to section 5 of Terrorism Act 2006”.

The spokesman added: “Both were bailed to return to a police station. They have since been released from bail, with no further action. The man and woman have made a formal complaint to the Met, which has been referred to the counter-terrorism command’s professional standards team.”