My family is from Manchester. I lived there, and I absolutely love it there. I am shocked and saddened by the attacks in Manchester, particularly aimed at young people.

My least favourite university assignment for Criminology was being asked to write an essay on the thoughts of the plane hijackers for 9/11. I remember having to do a reading where they imagined the thoughts of the hijackers, and how they were feeling – were they sweating? What were they thinking about? The thought of that really has stuck with me – I felt physically sick having to put myself into their shoes.

While I intensely disliked having to do the assignment, there is value in understanding what motivates people in an attempt to prevent it. Policing now has shifted to attempting to disrupt further attacks, and focusing on prevention activities in terms terrorism – a dramatic shift from proving a response…