Hamza Too Disabled For Jail, Lawyers Claim

London hate preacher Abu Hamza should be sent to a prison hospital because he is too disabled to spend life at a high-security US jail for terror offences, lawyers have claimed.

Attorneys for the one-eyed, handless, radical Egyptian cleric also claim by sentencing him to life in prison, the US would breach assurances given to judges in the UK, to secure his 2012 extradition to America.

But this is disputed by federal prosecutors, who argue Hamza should be held accountable for his role as a "global terrorist leader who orchestrated plots around the world to further his deadly mission".

The 56-year-old was convicted in May of 11 charges, including conspiring to set up a terror training camp in Oregon, conspiring to kidnap Americans in Yemen and providing support to terrorist organisations.

Hamza, whose real name is Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, has already served a UK prison sentence for using his sermons at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London to incite murder and racial hatred.

He was extradited to the US to face trial after a protracted legal battle lasting almost a decade.

A UK High Court judge ruled in October, 2012, that Hamza and four other men could be removed after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) refused to intervene and stop the Home Secretary extraditing them.

Speaking at the time, Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "absolutely delighted" Hamza was out of the country.

He said: "Like the rest of the public I'm sick to the back teeth of people who come here, threaten our country, who stay at vast expense to the taxpayer and we can't get rid of them."

Ahead of Hamza's sentencing on 9 January, his lawyers' said in court papers he would face unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment if his amputated forearms, psoriasis, diabetes and high blood pressure were not taken into account at his sentencing on 9 January.

They argue a non-life sentence would be "appropriate" in light of mitigating circumstances, and that he should have specially adapted accommodation to ensure he receives fair treatment while in custody.

But a letter submitted by Jeffery Allen, chief of health programs for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said Hamza would be given a full medical evaluation and assessed by a prosthetic specialist after he was sentenced.

Mr Allen also said there were special cells for those with disabilities and if the prison could not address Hamza's health needs, he would be moved to a prison hospital.