Officials in the U.K. are expressing fears of a rise in "bedroom radicals" — lone wolf terrorists radicalized online during the COVID lockdown — following the killing of Conservative MP David Amess, The Telegraph reports.

"Counter-terror police and MI5 have been concerned for some time that once we emerged out of lockdown there would be more people out on the streets and more targets for the terrorists," the Telegraph quoted a security source close to Britain's governing Conservative Party.

Amess was killed in a stabbing attack last week that police have said has "a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism."

"Combined with the fact that lots of young people have been spending so much time online, it makes for a very worrying mix and there is a real concern about the possible rise of the bedroom radicals," the source said.

"It's a really important point actually, it really is. Coronavirus, pandemic, people being locked down at home, online, etc.," Home Secretary Priti Patel told a BBC television show.

"But what I would say, to put this into perspective, we have the best security and intelligence agencies in the world," she added. "I can't sit and share with you [but] I know how they worked throughout the pandemic. I know the work that they do in terms of watching individuals – subjects of interest, tracking behaviours, monitoring anybody of interest."

Breitbart News notes that many recent terrorists who have attacked in Britain have been know about or even been under surveillance before they attacked.

Twenty-five-year-old Ali Harbi Ali, who is charged with killing Amess, was referred to authorities as part of a counter-terrorism probe years ago, but was never part of a formal investigation, according to the BBC.

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