by Dominic Adler, UnHerd
Saturday night’s vehicle-ramming incident in Derby resulted in seven people suffering serious injuries. Witnesses reported that the collision occurred in the city’s Friar Gate area, known for its pubs and bars. They described how a black Suzuki Swift “deliberately” mounted the pavement, knocking down a number of pedestrians. A 36-year old man, reportedly of Indian origin, was subsequently arrested on suspicion of several charges, including attempted murder. Police, as careful as ever to avoid inflaming local tensions, said they were keeping “an open mind” as to the suspect’s motive.
Like many English provincial cities, Derby has increasingly faced concerns around crime, drugs and immigration. Derbyshire Police later revealed that counter-terrorism officers are assisting the investigation, raising suspicions of an ideological motive. Indeed, officers may face the usual accusations of opacity around the incident, but in this instance an open mind is especially appropriate: violent, non-terror-related attacks involving cars outside pubs and clubs are hardly unheard of.
Counter-terrorism officers will quickly seek to either prove or disprove a terror-related motive, via the usual fast-tracking of intelligence and data communications analysis. Even if the suspect has no pre-existing intelligence traces, it’s increasingly common for lone-wolf terrorists to have stayed off the police radar. Indeed, Islamist terrorist organisations have instructed would-be “martyrs” to use vehicles, knives and other improvised methods to carry out attacks. As a security report by the Rand Corporation commented, “for such attacks, the barrier to entry is remarkably low; the main skill required is the ability to drive. Citing a separate report, it said: “No community, large or small, rural or urban, is immune to attacks of this kind.”