CD: TERROR SUSPECT ‘BREACHED CONTROL ORDER’
A terror suspect breached a control order after just 11 days when he overslept, the Old Bailey heard today (Mon).
The 27 year-old man, who can be identified only as CD, is accused of breaching obligations of the order on 15 occasions between February and June this year.
Home Secretary Theresa May successfully applied to the High Court to issue a control order on February 1 as there were ‘reasonable grounds for suspecting the person has been or is involved in terrorist-related activities.’
Prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse told jurors the orders were ‘necessary to restrict their liberty to protect members of the public from the risk of terrorism’.
No further reasons were give as to why CD was made subject to the order.
‘The judges in court were evidently satisfied on the evidence they heard it would be right to make an order so they did,’ she said.
She said CD was issued with a series of strict conditions which he had to comply with and that it was a criminal offence to break any of them.
The original set of conditions included a 16-hour curfew between 5pm and 9am and residence at an address in north London
The court heard CD was then moved to an address in Leicester and his curfew was relaxed to 12 hours from 8pm to 8am, monitored by an electronic tag. He was also ordered to sign in at a specified police station between 1pm and 2pm each day.
‘For the most part he complied with all the conditions, but on a number of conditions he breached two conditions,’ said the prosecutor.
‘It is because of those breaches that he was charged.’
Jurors were told CD turned up at the police station between five and 23 minutes later on 10 occasions between March 29 and June 28 this year.
‘CD was given several second chances but he still persisted in breaching conditions of the order,’ said Miss Whitehouse.
On his first day in Leicester CD turned up 14 minutes late, but was let-off as it was his first day in the city.
On another five occasions he failed to notify the curfew monitoring company that he was either leaving his address or arriving home, it was said.
On February 11 this year, within two weeks of being issued with the order, CD failed to call in before his 8pm curfew to say he was home.
He was non-contactable until 8.17pm until he spoke to an operator on the phone, it was said.
‘He said he fell asleep and forgot to wake up,’ said the prosecutor.
The following day he is charged with failing to notify the company that he was leaving his home after the curfew ended.
On that occasion he said he was ‘in a rush’ to sign on at the police station and forgot.
On a further occasion he said it ‘slipped his mind’.
CD was initially arrested on May 5 after his first six breaches, but was released on bail and continued to break the order.
Officers subsequently arrested him again on June 30 and he was charged, but he went on to breach the order for a 15th time, it was said.
‘CD did arrived at the police station every day, some of those days he was late,’ said Miss Whitehouse.
‘You may be saying to yourself what really is the harm in this. It is because the obligations are there to provide protection against those who are believed to be engaged in terrorist activity.’
CD, from Leicester, denies 15 counts of contravening control order obligations.
This include 10 charges of failing to report at the designated police station at the designated time and five charges of failing to notify the monitoring company of his movements.
The offences are said to have taken place between February 11 and July 19 this year.
ENDS.
