A JUDGE has sparked fury by wishing the 7/7 bombings mastermind “all the best” as he prepares to walk free.
Sir Robert Jay sympathised with al-Qaeda fiend Haroon Aswat, 50, who will be released from hospital to Yorkshire despite police fears he remains a threat.
Haroon Aswat with hate preacher Abu Hamza in 1999
PhotoshotSir Robert Jay sympathised with the 7/7 bombings mastermind[/caption]
He has served all his jail time and is due to be released to his family in Batley, West Yorks, at a date yet to be announced.
Aswat, 50, confessed to the 2005 London outrage, and a role in the 9/11 atrocity in 2001.
But he is set to be freed without ankle tag monitoring because of a loophole which forbids checks on psychiatric patients.
And Aswat, who was threatening to kill Christians, Jews and Muslim enemies as recently as 2022, will walk free with the warm wishes of Mr Justice Jay.
Last night, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for him to be sacked. And Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the judge’s remarks were an “insult” to the 52 people who died in 2005.
Mr Justice Jay’s jaw-dropping conversation can be revealed after The Sun applied for a transcript of the High Court case held on April 1. Police had applied for a notification order to keep tabs on Aswat.
After legal submissions the 65-year-old judge asked Aswat: “Mr Aswat, is there anything you’d like to say? How are you feeling?”
Aswat replied: “I’m good.”
Mr Justice Jay: “OK. You feel stable on your treatment?”
Aswat: “Yes.”
Mr Justice Jay: “When you are released, you are going to go back to your family, I think?”
Aswat: “In Yorkshire, yes.”
Mr Justice Jay: “OK. And you understand what these requirements are?” Aswat: “I have read through all the paperwork, yes.”
Mr Justice Jay: “OK. You probably want to put all of this behind you now?” Aswat: “Indeed, I do.”
Mr Justice Jay added: “It could not have been too pleasant being in American custody all that time.
“I have to wish you all the best and say to you that the way forward is to keep on your medication, listen to the advice you are going to get, and keep out of the sort of things you were doing.
“Because you saw where it ended up and you do not want to go back to that, I am sure.”
Leading criticism of the judge, Mr Farage blasted: “The public demands tougher justice than this by far. Aswat should be in a high-security jail until he dies and Mr Justice Jay should be sacked.”
Tory Mr Jenrick said: “Nobody should be wishing this evil terrorist ‘well’ and sympathising with their time in prison, least of all a High Court judge. Justice Jay should be ashamed of acting pally with a convicted terrorist.”
A sketch of Aswat’s sentencing in a New York court in 2015Reuters
AFPA bus after being bombed in the 7/7 attacks of 2005[/caption]
A senior legal expert added: “It’s very disappointing and shows surprisingly poor judgment for a senior member of the judiciary.
“Why is the judge addressing him like a victim? It’s nauseating.”
Aswat’s High Court hearing was the first time he has appeared in public since his return from the US where he was jailed for “incredibly serious” terror offences.
He had been deported to the UK in 2022 and is currently at Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London.
Security concerns spiralled after probation officials refused to assess his risk because rules forbid checks on psychiatric patients.
The High Court papers revealed top Met terror cop Det Chief Supt Gareth Rees had “grave concerns” Aswat remains a threat to security.
In his witness statement Mr Rees said of Aswat: “He has spoken positively of his time with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and expressed aspirations to reconnect with them.
“Based on my experience, this is conduct which gives me grave concerns about the risk which the defendant poses to the UK’s national security and to the public.”
Why is the judge addressing him like a victim? It’s nauseating.
Legal expert
Aswat trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan months before 9/11.
Documents also revealed his name on a ledger recovered from a house in Pakistan where the 9/11 “principal architect” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed stayed.
In 1999 Aswat helped Finsbury Park mosque hate preacher Abu Hamza set up a US terror camp.
Aswat was never charged over 7/7 even though police traced 20 calls to a phone linked to him made by the suicide bombers.
Weeks after the attack he was arrested in Zambia while possessing a terror manual and suspected bomb parts.
He was deported to the UK and held under a US arrest warrant.
Aswat fought extradition on mental health grounds but after a nine-year battle was sent to the US in 2014 and pleaded guilty to terror charges in 2015.
His 20-year jail term was cut to seven years because of time detained at Broadmoor Hospital.
Under psychiatric care
He confessed his role to 7/7 while in a US jail in 2017.
US District Court papers obtained by The Sun — in which the US Government objected to Aswat’s early release, stated: “He is a terrorist and foot soldier of al-Qaeda trained to commit acts of violence.
“In March 2017, [Aswat] stated, ‘If you think I am a terrorist, I don’t shy away from my responsibility’, and also stated he was a mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks and a 2005 terrorist attack in the UK.”
US prison officials also revealed he had a history of refusing to take his medication as it made him feel “sleepy”.
A British Government source declined to say when Aswat would be released but confirmed he had served all his jail time and was under psychiatric care. The source insisted he would be subject to robust monitoring for 30 years.
A Government spokeswoman said: “If any individual poses a threat to national security the police and intelligence services have a range of powers they can apply.
“We will always do whatever is necessary inside the law to protect the public from any risk posed by former terrorist offenders or people of terrorist concern.”
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