British terror suspect 'linked to White Widow' deported back to UK from Kenya
9 August 2024, 06:09 | Updated: 9 August 2024, 06:11
A British terror suspect believed to have shared a flat with White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite has been deported back to the UK from Kenya.
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Jermaine Grant was accompanied by Kenyan officials as he flew back to the UK on Thursday. He was immediately arrested at Heathrow airport.
It comes after a Kenyan court ruled last year that Grant should be deported once he had served his prison sentence.
The 41-year-old is understood to have links with the terror group Al-Shabaab as well as Samantha Lewthwaite, who is the wife of 7/7 terrorist bomber Germaine Lindsay.
Authorities apprehended Grant in Kenya in 2011 after bomb-making materials were discovered in his flat.
In 2019, he was sentenced to four years in prison, which was to be served alongside a separate nine-year sentence for forgery.
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A government spokesperson 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."
A Met Police spokesperson said: "We can confirm that on 8 August, 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 8 August, the man was also arrested for being unlawfully at large and arrested on suspicion of being a member of proscribed organisation Al-Shabaab. He remains in police custody."
