A British terror suspect and associate of the notorious “White Widow” has been deported from Kenya to the UK after completing a lengthy jail sentence.
Jermaine Grant flew from Kenya to the UK on Thursday accompanied by Kenyan officials and was immediately arrested on his arrival.
Grant, who is originally from London, had been imprisoned in the East African nation after being convicted of possessing bomb-making materials and using forged documents to obtain Kenyan citizenship.
He is believed to have completed his sentence at a jail in Mombasa.
A government spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that an individual was deported to the UK following the completion of a criminal sentence in Kenya.
“Our priority remains to ensure the safety and security of the UK. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect the UK and have one of the most robust counter-terrorism frameworks in the world to ensure this.”
Grant, a Muslim convert, was considered a close associate of Samantha Lewthwaite, the so-called “White Widow” terror suspect who has been on the run from police for more than a decade.
Germaine Lindsay, her husband, was one of the four suicide bombers who killed 52 people in London in 2005. She is wanted by Interpol and Kenya for possession of bomb-making materials and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Grant was prosecuted in Kenya after police found chemicals, switches and a bomb-making manual in a flat he shared with Lewthwaite. He was accused of being involved in a plot targeting hotels visited by foreign tourists.
Possession of bomb-making materials
In a 2019 trial he was convicted of possession of bomb-making materials, but the court acquitted him of conspiracy over the alleged plot.
He was given a four-year sentence, after already having been given a nine-year sentence in an earlier trial for using forged documents to obtain Kenyan citizenship.
Kenya made clear last year that the country wanted to deport him as soon as his sentence was over.
A Kenyan High Court last year ruled that he would be “repatriated to his country of origin by the cabinet secretary in charge of immigration in accordance with the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act”.
However Kenyan and UK authorities are understood to have disagreed on when his exact release date fell, based on differing calculations of time served.
A Mombasa prison source told The Telegraph that Grant’s sentence ended on Aug 7.
He flew to the UK on a Kenya Airways flight on Thursday morning, flanked by Kenyan officials.
The Home Office would not comment on what restrictions would be placed on Grant on his return.
A Met Police spokesman said: “We can confirm that on Thursday, August 8, officers from the Met Police arrested a 41-year-old man who was wanted on recall to prison in relation to breaching licence conditions linked to a previous conviction.
”He was arrested at Heathrow Airport as he arrived back into the UK on a flight from Kenya. The man’s licence conditions were revoked in August 2005 following the initial breach.
“Upon his return to the UK on August 8, the man was also arrested for being unlawfully at large and on suspicion of being a member of the proscribed organisation Al-Shabaab.
“He was taken into police custody, before being bailed in relation to the terrorism and being unlawfully at large matters, both of which continue to be investigated by officers from the Counter Terrorism Command.
“He was subsequently returned to prison in relation to the recall.”
The post British terror suspect linked to ‘White Widow’ deported from Kenya to the UK appeared first on The Telegraph.
