Revealed: Second hate cleric is allowed to stay – and he’s so dangerous he was banned from AS-level chemistry
By Andy Whelan
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An Iraqi Muslim cleric suspected of being involved with Al Qaeda and radicalising young Britons has used the Human Rights Act to continue to live in the UK – despite Government efforts to deport him.
Taha Muhammad is regarded as one of Britain’s most dangerous security threats. He was even banned from studying AS-level chemistry because of fears he would use the knowledge to commit terrorist acts.
The decision to let him stay is another setback for Home Secretary Theresa May, already under pressure after attempts to deport Abu Qatada to Jordan descended into chaos.
Staying: Attempts to deport Abu Qatada descended into chaos
The Government is so concerned about Muhammad, 35, that for several years he was placed under round-the-clock surveillance, given a curfew and banned from preaching.
But Muhammad says he cannot be deported to Iraq because he could be detained and tortured there.
He argues sending him back would be a breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Judges at an immigration tribunal allowed him to stay even though the Home Office said they believed he:
- Had links to several terrorist groups including Al Qaeda.
- ‘Took part in both terrorist training and activities’ and had ‘considerable jihadi pedigree’.
- Maintained contacts with Islamist extremists in Britain and abroad.
- Provided support for the jihadist insurgency in Iraq.
- Expressed extremist views.
Muhammad, who is understood to be living with his partner and three children in Birmingham, has now changed his name. An Iraqi Kurd, he managed to overturn a control order in 2010 and immigration judges said because of that, they had to conclude the allegations made by the Home Office were without foundation.
Muhammad also vowed to sue the Government over his treatment and is now poised to win a large compensation payout.
Setback: Home Secretary Theresa May is already under pressure after her failure to deport Abu Qatada
But Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover and Deal, said: ‘This is yet another example of why we need a British Bill of Rights. How the European Convention has been applied doesn’t work for Britain’s policies on border security and national security.
‘It’s a real issue for me because my constituents complain that the European Convention and Human Rights Act is a villains’ and terrorists’ charter and the position is simply unacceptable and needs to be resolved.’
Muhammad arrived in Britain in 2002 and applied for asylum after claiming Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party had accused him of being a member of the opposing Muslim Brotherhood, so had detained and tortured him.
The Home Office refused his application for asylum but he was granted exceptional leave to remain until March 2006.
While living as an imam and leading prayers at a mosque, he become one of MI5’s top terror suspects and in May 2006 was put under a control order.
The Government was so concerned about Muhammad that it made him the subject of a list of restrictions running to 15 pages.
Muhammad was given a curfew, limited to where he could go and banned from meeting a list of named individuals. He was also barred from attending his local mosque and leading prayers.
The Government also put a stop to his plans to study chemistry and human biology because it was thought he would use the knowledge gained to engage in terrorism.
Complain: MP Charlie Elphicke says Britain needs a Bill of Rights to protect its borders
Muhammad argues that he would be at renewed risk of detention and torture if he returned to Iraq because the authorities there would treat him as somebody linked to insurgency.
His wife, Amin Bayan Star, 22, and their children are also allowed to remain here after immigration judges concluded their removal would breach their rights to a private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
In a statement released through his solicitor, Muhammad said: ‘I have never done anything unlawful and I have been living a nightmare during the time I was subjected to the control order which was like living in a prison without bars.
‘Once the control order ended I believed my ordeal was at an end but the Home Office refused both my and my partners application for indefinite leave to remain and this threw my life and that of my family into turmoil and uncertainty again.
‘I hope and pray that the Home Office will leave me and my family alone.’
Control orders were introduced in March 2005 as a means of holding terror suspects who had not been charged or tried and where the evidence was largely sensitive and derived from intelligence sources.
In January of last year, following pressure from civil liberties campaigners, control orders were replaced with Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures, known as T-Pims, which have fewer controls but greater surveillance.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We take all necessary steps to protect the public from individuals we believe pose a threat and remove them from the UK.
‘But removal can be a challenging process and we have to operate within the law.’
Categories: News Tags: Allowed, ASlevel, banned, chemistry, cleric, dangerous, from, hate, he's, Revealed, Second, stay
Will Royal Mail be allowed to charge what it wants for a first-class stamp?
- Second class stamp will be no higher than 55p
- Average household spends 50p a week on post
By Becky Barrow
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Going up: Royal Mail is to be given the freedom to set its own prices for first-class stamps
Royal Mail is to be given the freedom to set its own prices for first-class stamps and other mail, the regulator announced today.
Ofcom said that, subject to the safeguards it was putting in place, Royal Mail will make decisions on the price of stamps, not the regulator.
Ofcom has put a cap on the price of second-class stamps for standard letters to protect vulnerable consumers.
Over the next seven years, this will ensure that Royal Mail can price second-class stamps no higher than 55p. The cap will be indexed in line with inflation.
Today’s announcement is set to lead to higher stamp prices, currently 46p for first class and 36p for second class. In 2000 a second class stamp cost just 19p.
The average household spends around 50p per week on post, with low-income families typically spending less.
Ofcom said it believes the safeguard cap will ensure that postal services remain affordable for such families and vulnerable consumers more generally.
Ofcom will continue to require Royal Mail to provide competitors with access to its delivery network.
The price hikes could come into effect in two weeks.
Royal Mail will have the freedom to set the price for access to its network but will be subject to rules regarding the margin between its wholesale and retail prices.
The Royal Mail would like the limits on what it can charge for postage lifted completely
Ofcom said this will help ensure that efficient competitors can compete effectively with Royal Mail.
‘The central aim of the decisions announced today is to ensure that Royal Mail’s universal service obligation (USO) is financially sustainable and provided efficiently.
‘Without regulatory changes there is a risk that Royal Mail may not be able to continue to deliver the USO to the same standard as today,’ said an Ofcom statement.
In 2000 a second class stamp cost just 19p but now it costs 36p and this could rise to 55p
Stuart McIntosh, Ofcom’s group director of competition, said: ‘Ofcom’s decisions are designed to safeguard the UK’s postal service, ensuring it is sustainable, affordable and high quality, to the end of the decade and beyond.
‘The measures ensure that Royal Mail’s products remain affordable for vulnerable consumers and small businesses.’
Royal Mail, which is state-owned, has made clear its own preference for being allowed to charge its customers whatever it likes.
Today’s move is the latest piece of the jigsaw to prepare Royal Mail to be sold off to the highest bidder, or floated on the stock market, with a deal expected next year at the earliest.
Last week, it emerged that the company’s £9.5billion pension deficit is being dumped in taxpayers’ laps in a bid to make the company more attractive to investors.
The Royal Mail spokesman added: ‘Royal Mail has made a loss on its core mails, including packets, activities of almost £1billion over the last four financial years. That is not a sustainable position for any business.’
George Thomson, general secretary of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, has said that people should prepare for a ‘very significant hike in stamp prices’.
He added: ‘I don’t particularly like it but I don’t see any alternative.’
Snag your tights, get a payout! How civil servants are allowed to claim for everyday wear-and-tear of their clothes – and taxpayers foot the bill
- Civil servants automatically given an extra 2.5 ‘privilege’ days off per year
- Female civil servant laddering £5 pair of tights would get £4.50 compensation – even if it was her own fault
- Ripped two-year-old silk blouse worth £80 would attract £40 compensation, £32 if it is polyester
By Jason Groves and Tim Shipman
Last updated at 10:11 PM on 17th February 2012
Embarrassment: Francis Maude boasted this week that Whitehall waste was being brought under control
Senior civil servants are claiming taxpayer-funded compensation which could be worth hundreds of pounds when they ladder their tights or snag their suits.
A leaked dossier on pay and perks has revealed that civil servants can claim for damaged clothing, handbags and shoes – even if their department was not to blame for the mishap.
The rules mean that a male employee who damaged a £300 woollen suit would be paid £225 if it was 12 months old and £150 if it was two years old.
A female civil servant ripping a £5 pair of tights at work can expect £4.50, even if it was her own fault.
Last night MPs accused mandarins of living in ‘a parallel universe’ after it emerged that they can even claim handouts from the public purse for battered old shoes that are more than five years old and items that are simply ‘lost’.
Documents passed to the Daily Mail by a Whitehall whistleblower reveal that the perk is just one of an array of benefits lavished on Britain’s 500,000 civil servants.
The details are an embarrassment for Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, who boasted this week that he was making huge strides in stripping out waste in the civil service.
He said: ‘We are creating a much leaner, more effective Whitehall machine that manages its finances like the best-run businesses and demands the best return for public money.
‘This Government has been relentlessly hunting down waste and shaking Whitehall up.’
What he failed to mention was that departments still compensate employees for loss or damage to personal property that ‘was caused through its negligence’ or due to ‘actions and omissions’ by ‘members of staff or contractors’.
But civil servants can also receive ‘goodwill payments’ when ‘neither the department nor you was negligent in causing the loss or damage to personal property’.
One document provides a complex ready reckoner detailing how much staff can claim.
The compensation is paid out at generous rates, taking only slight account of wear and tear.
Under the rules, clothes made from a majority of natural fibres such as cotton and silk are judged to lose just a quarter of their value each year.
Garments made from polyester depreciate by 40 per cent for the first year and 20 per cent each following year up to a total of four years.
Thus a ripped two-year-old silk blouse worth £80 would attract compensation of £40 and the owner of a polyester garment of the same price would get £32.
It is not known how much money is claimed each year in compensation.
The dossier was leaked by an ‘appalled’ former private sector worker who recently took up a position in a Whitehall department.
Payout: Female civil servants who ladder their tights could be in line for a payout of £4.50 for a £5 pair
The whistleblower said: ‘My jaw hit the floor when I was told about all the perks I would be entitled to. There is no way you would get anything like this in the private sector – companies would go bust and the economy would collapse if you did. I think it’s important that people in the private sector know the truth about life in the civil service.
‘How anyone can go on strike over pensions and keep a straight face when they have it this easy is beyond me.’
The dossier reveals that, despite deep cuts to other areas of public spending, the cossetted working conditions enjoyed in much of the heavily-unionised civil service remain virtually unchanged.
The documents make it clear that staff will enjoy pensions ‘unmatched in the private sector’.
And they reveal that civil servants are automatically granted an extra two-and-a-half days off each year on top of a generous allocation of six weeks’ annual leave plus eight bank holidays.
The ‘privilege days’, which mark Christmas, Easter and the Queen’s official birthday, are unknown outside the public sector.
Some civil servants can even claim expenses from beyond the grave. Up to three relatives of someone awarded an honour such as an MBE can get taxpayers’ money for a cab to Buckingham Palace to receive the insignia if the recipient has died.
Tory MP Philip Davies said: ‘It’s staggering. The civil service seems to be living in a parallel universe. It just goes to show how much more Whitehall waste the government can cut.
‘Maybe the next time my shoes conk out I’ll ask the Speaker of the Commons to give me some public money to replace them because of the amount of walking I’ve done around Westminster.’
A TaxPayers’ Alliance spokesman said: ‘It’s absurd that civil servants are able to claim taxpayers’ money if they ladder their tights at work or wear out their shoes in the course of doing their job. There’s no reason they can’t accept a degree of wear and tear on their clothing like everyone else.’
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: ‘There is no free-for-all clothes replacement in the civil service. Departments can compensate employees for property damaged at work but only if there’s reasonable case for it. Abuse of the rules is not tolerated.’
Categories: News Tags: Allowed, bill, Civil, claim, clothes, everyday, foot, payout, servants, Snag, taxpayers, their, tights, wearandtear
Sex predator Kajus Scuka allowed into UK to carry out knifepoint rape and string of attacks
- Kajus Scuka, 48, jailed for life today with a minimum term of 12 years
- Rapist slipped into Britain undetected and signed on for benefits
- He stabbed wife three times in row over his infidelity and was jailed for life in 1988
- Also convicted of gross indecency, indecent assault and attacking a woman with an axe in his homeland
By Rob Cooper
Last updated at 6:40 PM on 27th January 2012
A dangerous sexual predator from the Czech Republic who murdered his wife at home came to the UK and carried out a knifepoint rape and three serious sex attacks on women, a court heard.
Kajus Scuka, 48, raped a woman on her 54th birthday as she walked her dog in a park and groped his other victims and offered them cash for sex.
The convicted killer was claiming £67-per-week in benefits after coming to the country in 2009.
A judge today expressed dismay that despite his serious convictions and lengthy sentence, Scuka was ‘free to enjoy the same freedom of movement as any other European citizen.’
Jailed: Kajus Scuka, 48, who had served 11-and-a-half years of a 13 year sentence in his homeland
He was allowed into the country despite serving 11-and-a-half years of a 13 year sentence for murdering his wife.
He had been jailed in 1988 for stabbing her three times in his homeland when they argued over his infidelity.
Scuka also has convictions in the Czech Republic for gross indecency, indecent assault and assaulting a woman with an axe for which he was jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Although he was already a convicted killer, as he was not deemed high profile enough he is likely to have slipped into the country unnoticed because border officials would not have known of his criminal past.
Judge Peter Kelson told the defendant: ‘It seems to me that even with your convictions for murder and assaults you were free to enjoy the same freedom of movement as any other European citizen’
Any EU citizen is entitled to come into the country unless border officials can show that the individual represents a danger under free movement of labour laws.
The system is reliant on criminal records databases being shared – and a conviction alone is not enough to keep someone out.
The Sheffield attacks all happened within a two-mile radius of the city’s giant Meadowhall Shopping Centre between March 2010 and May 2011 and – police did not even know the killer was in the country.
Jailing Scuka for life with a minimum term of 12 years at Sheffield Crown Court, Judge Peter Kelson told him: ‘I regard you as a very, very dangerous man.’
He said he was ‘unwilling to control his sexual urges and was a grave danger to women’ and he would be recommending Scuka for deportation after he has served his sentence.
The judge said: ‘If there is ever such a day you are released in this country you should be deported. I have no doubt that the public will be terribly alarmed.
‘It seems to me that even with your convictions for murder and assaults you were free to enjoy the same freedom of movement as any other European citizen.’
After the hearing, Detective Sergeant Ian Harding said it was worrying that Scuka could slip into Britain under the radar.
‘It is a concern that people of this nature move freely about the EU without any restriction,’ he said.
‘This man has been living in Sheffield since 2009 and we were not even aware of his presence.’
Scuka first struck in March, 2010 as a 51-year-old grandmother walked her two-year-old granddaughter home in a pram at Sheffield Lane Top.
WHY ARE WE NOT WARNED ABOUT EU CRIMINALS?
Britain’s ‘open borders’ agreement with the European Union means millions of people with criminal records can get into the country unchecked.
Any citizen of an EU country, including the 8 countries of Eastern Europe, can get into the UK without a visa, just as Britons can travel freely around the continent.
When EU nationals arrive at the border, their passport details are checked against a ‘watch list’ of serious criminals and terror suspects compiled by the UK Border Agency.
But the database contains giant holes – as the British authorities are reliant on other countries to share their criminal records.
Unless an offender is high profile, is known to have committed crimes in several countries, or is on the Interpol wanted list – the system is unlikely to be aware of their previous convictions.
And even if a new arrival does have a conviction – or indeed several – and the authorities are aware of them, they cannot automatically be refused entry.
European free movement rules mean they can be barred to ‘maintain public security’ but convictions in themselves do not necessarily mean they will be turned away.
Even more worrying is that many foreign nationals do not undergo rigorous background checks even after they have been arrested.
Each year around 30,000 pass through the criminal justice system without police exploring the full extent of their criminal pasts.
By comparison, criminals from outside the EU who want to come to Britain must obtain a visa before entering – and are required to declare any previous convictions.
He approached the woman from behind and put his hand between her legs while making ‘sexual grunting noises’, said prosecutor Mike Smith.
His victim turned round and swore at Scuka who fled.
The second attack happened on April 14 when a 23-year-old was approached by Scuka who pretended to be jogging as she walked alongside the River Don.
His victim said he appeared to be wanting directions but he then grabbed her and tried to push her into nearby undergrowth and said: ‘I give you 30 quid.’
The woman, who escaped, told the court: ‘At first I thought he was going to mug me but then I realised he wasn’t after money.’
Two hours later Scuka raped his third victim as she walked her dog on playing fields after work just a mile away at Wincobank.
The victim told the court a man speaking broken English asked her for directions then knocked her into a ditch.
He slapped her hard on her thighs before taking out a penknife and raping her.
She said: ‘He tried to kiss me. He kept slapping me. At one point I was thinking I didn’t want to die in this ditch, I didn’t want to die with my clothes off and be found by children.’
The final attack was on May 17, 2011 when a student in her 20s was walking through a park in Firth Park.
Scuka grabbed her from behind and said ‘let’s have sex’ but she managed to break free and escape as he tried to rip off her coat.
He was arrested minutes later at his home half a mile away.
Scuka’s DNA was found on the rape victim while fibres from a hooded top he wore for the last attack were found on his victim’s coat.
Scuka, who spoke through an interpreter in court, was convicted by a jury of one offence of rape and three offences of sexual assault.
He told the court he lost his footing as he spoke to the rape victim and they both fell to the ground on a public footpath.
Scuka claimed the woman touched him sexually first and he found her attractive but did nothing against her will.
Police believed he returned home for brief periods by bus during his time in Sheffield. Det Sgt Harding said: ‘He claimed he came here looking for work but he hasn’t done any and just signed on.’
Categories: News Tags: Allowed, attacks, Carry, into, Kajus, knifepoint, predator, rape, Scuka, string
Latvian axe murderer allowed into Britain was only exposed after killing motorcyclist in drink-drive smash
- Used axe to ‘garrot’ drinking partner in Latvia before setting fire to house to hide evidence
- Moved to Boston, Lincolnshire, in 2010
- Then killed motorcyclist Valentina Planciunene, 37, while more than twice legal drink-drive limit
- Judge: ‘On Valentine’s Day, Darien Long said goodbye to his partner, Valentina. Thanks to you she never came back’
By Katherine Faulkner
Last updated at 12:36 AM on 22nd November 2011
Axe murderer: Intars Pless was allowed to move to Britain in 2010 without anyone knowing about his criminal past
Police had ‘no idea’ an Eastern European axe murderer was living in the country until he killed an innocent woman while drink-driving.
Latvian Intars Pless, 34, came to Britain last year after serving six years for murdering a friend.
But the authorities were unaware of his criminal past until February this year when he ran his car straight into Valentina Planciunene.
He then drove away from the scene – leaving the 37-year-old moped rider from Belarus to die on the road in Boston, Lincolnshire.
After Pless was convicted on Friday of causing death by dangerous driving, prosecutor Stuart Lody said: ‘The court may be astonished to know the British authorities had no way of knowing if a foreign national convicted of murder is in the country until that person is charged under an English law and they can do a check.
‘Lincolnshire Police had no idea a man such as this was living among the good people of Boston.’ But Judge Sean Morris replied: ‘I am not surprised.’ Turning to the jury at Lincoln Crown Court, he said: ‘Members of the jury, welcome to our world.’
Miss Planciunene left for work on her moped in the early hours of February 15 after celebrating Valentine’s Day with her British partner of two years, Darien Long.
The court heard that Miss Planciunene took safety very seriously and had been wearing a white helmet and a fluorescent yellow coat.
She was knocked into an oncoming people carrier by Pless, who was driving while two-and-a-half times over the limit after drinking whisky all night.
Victim: Valentina Planciunene, 37, was on her way to work on Valentine’s Day when she was killed by Pless while he was driving at more than twice the legal limit
A year earlier, Pless had been released from a Latvian prison after serving time for his murderous attack on a drinking companion.
He slashed the man with an axe, fatally slicing through his jugular vein, then tried to destroy the evidence by setting fire to the house where the crime was committed.
Previously, he had been sentenced to three years’ jail for a serious theft in Latvia. But despite these offences, as an EU national he was able to come to the UK with only minimal checks.
The jury heard Miss Planciunene, who came to the UK from Belarus four years ago, was riding her 125cc bike to her job at a local food processing factory when Pless’s car knocked her into the path of an oncoming people carrier.
‘The driver had no time to take avoiding action.’ Although Pless stopped his car a short distance from the crash he then drove off after his passenger got out.
‘When we first saw each other, I suppose you could say it was love at first sight.
‘She was my life, not a day goes by without me thinking of her and missing her’
DRINK-DRIVE VICTIM’S BRITISH PARTNER
When Pless was arrested, he denied he had been driving. Police had to send officers to Latvia to eliminate as a suspect the man he claimed was behind the wheel.
Miss Planciunene had come to the UK from Belarus four years ago. She lived in Boston and worked long hours in a food processing plant.
After Pless was found guilty on Friday, Mr Long, 44, said: ‘She was my life. Not a day goes by without me thinking of her and missing her.’
Pless, who faces up to 14 years in prison, will be sentenced at a later date. After remanding him in custody, Judge Morris said: ‘I will be recommending the deportation of this man.’
The ‘free movement’ directive means it is virtually impossible to stop EU citizens with criminal convictions from entering Britain.
The policy – which was agreed by Labour in 2004 – means that anyone from the EU has the freedom to travel to the UK without the same stringent tests applied those from other countries.
A UK Border Agency spokesman said: ‘The onus for flagging someone’s criminal history lies with the police in their home country. We would then use this information to decide whether they should be allowed into the UK.’
