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All mod cons for convict Hamza. Preacher of hate gets £650 taps for his prison cell
Kiran Randhawa16 Nov 2009
Prison officials have been criticised for fitting new taps costing £650 in the cells used by extremist Muslim preacher Abu Hamza.
Chrome lever taps have replaced standard twist taps. Two cells had to be fitted with the taps as inmates at high-security Belmarsh prison are moved every month. Handrails were also put in the lavatories in both cells for the 51-year-old who lost both arms and an eye in a blast in Afghanistan.
He is allowed to wear a prosthetic arm and hook while serving his sentence at the prison in south-east London. It is claimed he had used the old taps with no problem for several years. Hamza was jailed for seven years in February 2006 for preaching hate and inciting murder at Finsbury Park mosque. He had been held in the jail since 2004.
A prison source said bosses at the jail were always bowing down to his demands. “It seems that whenever he says, Jump', the authorities ask him, How high?', ” said the source. “No one in here can understand why we're spending the money to do this when he's had no problem using the same taps as everyone else for the five years he's been here.”
American prosecutors want him extradited to stand trial on terrorism charges, including setting up al Qaeda training camps.
Reader views (8)
The worlds gone mad
- Malcolm Foster, NELSON, 18/11/2009 12:07
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Is it that the cost of fittings taps is £650 as opposed to Hook getting special taps
The real story is that the Belmarsh are being charged £650 to supply and fit taps. That is the scandal.
- Gareth, London, 17/11/2009 09:54
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Odd how Captain Lame Hook, preaches hate against infidels and that Islam is the only way forward, and yet he has to entrust on a INFIDEL and CHRISTIAN jurist system for his Human Rights?
If his Islamic belief is so great why does he not delegate his rights in the Islamic courts?
- Muzungu, MBA Kenya, 16/11/2009 14:32
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How do I get the plumbing contract for Belmarsh? You can buy lever taps for about £30 a pair. Say half an hour to fit them - someone's cleaning up!
- Paul, London, 16/11/2009 13:37
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What I don't get is how lever taps can possibly cost £650. There are plenty on show in any DIY warehouse at under £100, and that's the retail price rather than the trade one. So who's made off with the £550+ and why aren't the police after him?
- Nigel, London, 16/11/2009 13:03
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Won't his hook go rusty?
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 16/11/2009 11:46
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For goodness sake, why don´t you send him to the US? They want him badly enough so let them foot the bill for his new taps and provide a mansion for his family to live in.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands, 16/11/2009 10:11
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£650 is nothing compared to the amount of money the tax payer is handing out for his very large family and the mansion they live in.
The question has to be asked why these people are still in this country? Oh yes, Labour are in charge.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 16/11/2009 08:57
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