A 14-year-old boy was mistakenly arrested during an investigation into a suspected terrorist plot, police have said.
Counter-terror officers arrested five men – four of whom are Iranian nationals – as they swooped on various locations around the country on Saturday over a “suspected plot to target a specific premises”.
The Metropolitan Police, who are leading the investigation, said two men and a 14-year-old boy “appeared to have run away” from the scene of one of the arrests in the Stockport area, Greater Manchester, and were detained before being released.
The teenager told the Manchester Evening News he ran away because he feared a kidnap attempt after armed officers jumped out of an unmarked car that pulled up in front of him.
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He told the paper that police put a gun in his face and ordered him to “get on the ground” before pulling him down and putting a knee on his neck.
The Met said in a statement on Monday: “As part of the proactive Counter Terrorism Policing investigation into a suspected terrorist plot, a man was arrested in the Stockport area on Saturday, 3 May.
“During the course of that particular arrest, three people in the close vicinity appeared to have run away from the location as the officers carried out the arrest.
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“Due to the severity of the alleged offences being investigated, and to ensure public safety, officers detained the three individuals to ensure they were not linked to the matter being investigated or a threat to the public.
“Officers were subsequently able to establish they were not of any concern, and the two adult males and the 14-year-old boy were released.”
People living on the leafy residential Cheadle Hulme street told of their shock at the police operation.
Sarah Owen-Jones, said her son broke down in tears after being trapped in the local park with his friends as armed officers pounced.
All five men arrested in the probe remain in custody, including:
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• A 29-year-old man arrested in the Swindon area
• A 46-year-old man arrested in west London
• A 29-year-old man arrested in the Stockport area
• A 40-year-old man arrested in the Rochdale area
• A man – whose age was not confirmed – arrested in the Manchester area.
Officers are carrying out searches at a number of addresses in the Greater Manchester, London and Swindon areas in connection with the investigation.
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Police also arrested three further Iranian nationals in London on Saturday as part of another, unrelated counter-terror investigation.
The suspects were detained under section 27 of the National Security Act 2023, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.
