Judges Keep Releasing Terrorists—and More Innocent People Die
11th September 2025
When a High Court judge wishes a convicted terrorist “all the best,” something has gone badly wrong in our legal system.
Justice Robert Jay made the remarks when approving the release of Haroon Aswat, the al-Qaeda terrorist who, in 2015, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the U.S. for setting up a terrorist training camp. He was deported to the UK, his country of birth, in 2022 and has been detained under the Mental Health Act ever since. During his hearing prior to his release this week, Justice Jay appeared to sympathise with Aswat, saying, “It could not have been too pleasant being in American custody all that time.” He then advised Aswat that “the way forward is to keep on your medication, listen to the advice you are going to get, and keep out of the sort of things you were doing.”
The “sort of things” Aswat has been doing is assisting literal terrorists.