Muslim hate preacher Abu Qatada: Security operation costing us £10,000 a week

  • Round-the-clock protection for extremist’s family 
  • Son, 18, delivers hate sermon outside Belmarsh prison

By
Ian Drury And Tim Shipman

Last updated at 10:46 PM on 12th February 2012

Hate preacher Abu Qatada will be banned from taking his youngest child to school when he is released from jail tomorrow.

The Government has won a court ruling preventing him from flaunting his freedom at the school gates while ministers battle to find a way of deporting him.

At a cost to taxpayers of £10,000 a week, a team of up to 60 police officers and MI5 agents will provide round-the-clock protection for a man described as Osama Bin Laden’s ambassador in Europe when he returns to his London home.

On the loose: Qatada will be under curfew for 22-hours-a-day but will be free to take his children to and from school

On the loose: Qatada will be under curfew for 22-hours-a-day but will be free to take his children to and from school

Under the terms of his release, Qatada
must obey a 22-hour curfew, wear an electronic tag and is banned from
using the internet and telephone.

But, fearful about the prospect of a terror suspect being free to do the
school run, the Home Office went to court on Friday to obtain an order
to ensure his two hours of freedom each day do not coincide with school
opening and closing times.

Concerns were raised after the Mail’s revelations last Tuesday when a
judge ruled Qatada must be allowed to walk his youngest son to school.

A senior legal source said: ‘There was a hearing on Friday. The court
came back and said the Home Office request was fine. Abu Qatada won’t be
able to do the school run.’

Police have a 'duty of care' to protect Qatada and his family

Police have a ‘duty of care’ to protect Qatada and his family

Despite that victory, ministers are prepared for a fresh public backlash
today as details emerge of the huge sums that will be spent protecting
the extremist.

Security costs are estimated to be around £500,000 a year on top of the
£1million in benefits, prison costs and legal fees the terror 
sympathiser has drained from the public purse.

A panic alarm has been installed in his house amid fears that the bailed
Muslim cleric, his wife and five children could be attacked by
vigilante mobs. Plans have also been drafted to move them to a safe
house in an emergency.

But police insist they have a ‘duty of care’ to Qatada, who has provided
spiritual inspiration to a string of Al Qaeda terrorists including the
September 11 hijackers who murdered 3,000 innocent people in 2001.

It has also emerged that the tight restrictions he faces under his bail
conditions could be relaxed as soon as April, enabling him to spread his
poisonous views in the run up to the Olympics.

Incredibly, even though ministers believe Qatada, 52, poses a serious
risk to national security, he could be totally free within two years.
Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a former infantry officer, said: ‘This is a
disgrace. The money will be spent as much on protecting him as
protecting us and adds insult to the injury on the taxpayer pocket.’

Release: Qatada is due to walk free from Long Lartin jail, Worcs., on Monday

Release: Qatada is due to walk free from Long Lartin jail, Worcs., on Monday

Kim Beer, whose son Phil, 22, died in the July 7 terror bombings in
London in 2005, said: ‘What gives these people the right to be free?

‘They don’t care about the rights of the people they want to kill. My life ended the day my son was murdered.’

Robin Simcox, of the Henry Jackson Society, a foreign policy think-tank,
said: ‘The situation should have been resolved long ago.

‘Qatada was here illegally on a forged passport and spent a decade
encouraging young British Muslims to fight and die in foreign places in
the name of religion.

‘The fundamental question is whether the country should be able to
decide whether a dangerous man with a litany of terror connections
should live here. That we are paying to protect him with police officers
is utterly obscene.’

The scandal has erupted because ministers’ attempts to deport Qatada to
Jordan to stand trial on terror charges were blocked three weeks ago by
the European Court of Human Rights.

It ruled the extremist could not be sent back while there was a risk of torture-obtained evidence being used against him.

And last week an immigration judge in London decided Qatada could not be
kept behind bars while awaiting deportation, having been locked up
without charge for six and a half years.

Mr Justice Mitting said he should be released on bail from Long Lartin
high-security prison in Worcestershire to his home, thought to be in
Wembley, north-west London.

But he also warned tough bail conditions could be eased on April 17 unless Britain makes progress in negotiations with Jordan.

Security minister James Brokenshire is expected to travel to Jordan as
early as today in the hope of finalising an agreement that evidence
acquired through torture will not be used against Qatada if he is kicked
out of Britain.

Son follows firebrand's footsteps

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

A waste of tax payers money.

All thanks to the conservatives who took us into the EU and now we have another one who is too busy wrecking this country to sort this ridiculous situation out or is it all part of common purpose?!

If the horrible creature refuses to recognize the western culture surely he should refuse their protection on principle? He obviously is a hypocrite and a fat ugly one at that.

Just DEPORT the nerd,i have to get up 6 mornings a week on just above minimum wage to pay my taxes for people like him to live in comfort.I have not had a holiday for three years for my three children and wife.Come on lotto please get me out of this country.

Does any organization have a duty of care to protect law abiding citizens in Britain these days? By the way if this piece of vermin’s life is in so much danger in Britain, shouldnt he be removed to a safer country? The USA or Jordan spring to mind

Let’s hope Jordan will be willing to “say” they won’t torture him, after he’s been deported then they can do what they like to him! I can’t believe that the UK has to house, feed and clothe them via benefits. Failing Jordan not agreeing to say they won’t torture him, then the UK should deport him anyway, after all what can be done? We need to get out of Europe, why should we have to put up with him and his ilk, who clearly hate us?

I view this as aiding and abetting an enemy. You can’t trust the Police, the Government or the Church nowadays -in fact, the lot of them can’t sink any lower.

And of course our brain dead police will protect HIM to the best of their ability, unlike the general public that gets treated with disdain. This is a pathetic, upside down country. Do they not realize he is laughing at our stupidity?

Deport him and his son to Jordan immediately, and if the British ‘Human Rights Judges’ object, send them as well. The Human Rights and safety of our people are far more important than the rights of a terrorist preacher.

Stop the madness and deport him and spend the money on the old people in hospitals so they can be fed and watered This is the governments responsibility and not keep foreigners We have a duty of care to the people of the United Kingdom Put him and his family on a plane and ask and answer questions when he has left our shores

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