FORMER home secretary Jack Straw and ex-police chief Bob Eastwood believe the apprehension of an East Lancashire teenager before an Anzac Day attack in Australia was a success for the government’s anti-terrorism strategy.

Chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques Abdul Hamid Qureshi agreed it was an example of the effectiveness of the policy.

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The 15-year-old was sentenced to life with a minimum of five years in custody on Friday for helping plot an abortedAnzac Day terror attack in Australia.

The youngster, from Blackburn, exchanged more than 3,000 encrypted mobile app messages with 18-year-old Sevdet Besim after he became swiftly radicalised by online Islamic State propaganda.

A “major terrorist plot in its late stages” was thwarted when authorities in Britain and Australia intervened and Besim was arrested in possession of a knife a week before the annual war remembrance event.

The youngster, now aged 15, was given a life sentence at Manchester Crown Court and told he would serve at least five years.

Mr Justice Saunders praised the police for the work in the case and two schools in Blackburn and Burnley for alerting them to the danger.

Former Blackburn MP Mr Straw, who as a Labour cabinet minister was involved in devising the original Prevent strategy to counter Islamic extremism and radicalisation of young people, said: “This is a personal tragedy for the boy’s family but the intervention of the authorities prevented a far worse tragedy in Australia.

“It is very sad this case involved a teenager from East Lancashire as, on the whole, the area has avoided this kind of radicalism.

“It seems to me that this was a good example of the counter-radicalisation strategy working, and the authorities and police striking the right balance and acting before any incident happened.”

Mr Qureshi said: “ It is a tragedy for the boy’s family but the authorities managed to intervene before something worse happened.

“The police and schools appear to have got the balance right.

“We need to reflect deeply on what happens to make such a young person want to kill and maim people or lead to the college shootings in Oregon.”

Mr Eastwood, former eastern divisional police commander, said: “They certainly seem to have got it right.

“It is a fine balance to strike but any claim that harassment under the Prevent strategy might radicalise a young person into this type of activity is nonsense.

“It is important we recognise this is just criminality and do not stigmatise one community in East Lancashire as result of this teenagers activity.”

All three expressed concern about the role of the internet in the his radicalisation.