Plymouth shooting: Government adviser says ‘Incels’ will not be treated as terrorists unless there are more attacks

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A government adviser said violent attacks by “influencers” such as Plymouth gunman Jake Davison would be treated as terrorism if the movement grew.

Police have come under fire for not treating the tragedy – which saw the gunman shoot five people and himself, after misogynistic posts on social media described himself as an involuntary celibate – as linked to terrorism.

Jonathan Hall, the Home Office’s independent reviewer for terrorism law, said whether or not a threat is classified as terrorism is a “matter of scale.”

But he added, “If we see more of these kinds of attacks, I have no doubts that they will be treated more seriously as terrorism.”

Inkles, who usually blames women for failing to form sexual relations, are currently considered part of right-wing terrorism – but Mr Hall acknowledged they are “completely separated”.

Davison said he was “reckless” and protested not to lose his virginity as a teenager, in a rambling video posted to YouTube three weeks ago.

On the Reddit account, one post was titled “Why anti-gun people are disgusting evil and human filth”. He also described the women as “simple minded and not all bright”.

Mr. Hall said there was no need to change the definition of terrorism, because the current description of violence used to advance an ideological cause was sufficient.

He told BBC Radio 4 News that an “isolated incident” above this threshold would probably not be treated as such because it might not make sense to “divert resources” to confront it.

But he added, “If something gets to a level where it affects, if you like, the national security of the country or the general sense of security for the population, you might want to.”

On the internal threat, Mr. Hall added: “It appears to be part of right-wing terrorism but it really isn’t. In fact, it’s completely separate from it. It’s a different kind of ideology.

“The question is really one of choice. Do we want to start treating outcasts as potential terrorists?”

Peter Fahey, the former chief of Greater Manchester Police, agreed that many people believe that misogyny is “not high enough” on the police priority list.

But he added, “When we give too much publicity to these issues, which is inevitable given the scale of the tragedy, the problem is that it puts ideas into the minds of others. We have to be careful because we don’t build these people up too much.”

In his now-deleted posts, Davison set out his hopes of “compensating” for the loss of sex life as a teenager.

He was a gun enthusiast and praised Donald Trump, writing regularly about his hatred for his mother, Maxine, who was the first person to be shot.

Neil Basu, Britain’s chief counter-terrorism officer, warned MPs a year ago that young people were being groomed online for terrorism, including “extremism” alongside far-right and Islamic extremism.

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