Hate preacher Abu Hamza has moved a step closer to freedom in his bid for “compassionate” release to get back to Britain.
Warders at America’s toughest supermax prison have supplied Abu Hamza lawyers with his medical records as part of his legal challenge.
If a court grants his freedom there would be nothing stopping him from returning to the UK.
In 2015 Hamza, 63, was told he would die behind bars after being sentenced to life years in US prison.
New York Federal Court Judge Katherine Forrest said he would never be freed again after being found guilty of 11 terrorism and kidnapping charges.
(Image: Getty Images)
In sentencing, she said: “Any time he is released the world will not be a safe place.
“He has not shown any remorse.”
But last month, the State’s Bureau of Prison’s asked New York judge, Analisa Torres, if they could provide the one-eyed cleric’s medical records to his defence team.
United States Attorney, Audrey Strauss, who is leading the case against Ghislaine Maxwell, wrote to make the request.
She asked Judge Torres: “At the suggestion of the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) and defence counsel, the Government writes to request that the Court grant the BOP permission to provide medical records for the defendant to defence counsel in this matter, to facilitate the filing of a motion for compassionate release.
“The Court’s granting of such permission will obviate the need for defence counsel to obtain a waiver from the defendant for the release of his medical records to his attorneys.”
To seek compassionate release, inmates must file a petition with their prison governor. It is however only is granted “when there are particularly extraordinary or compelling circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen by the court at the time of sentencing.”
During his US trial, the former bouncer was seen wearing a spork – a fork and a spoon – attached to his prosthetic arm which allows him to eat.
His legal team produced the utensil as part of their argument he should serve his sentence at a prison medical facility instead of a supermax jail.
However, he was sent to maximum security ADX Florence in Colorado, nicknamed the Alcatraz of the Rockies.
He currently is held in confinement alongside some of the world’s most dangerous men including British shoe bomber Richard Reid and drug load El Chapo.
Last year Hamza began suing the US authorities over the “cruel” conditions he claims to be kept in.
The former imam of Finsbury Park mosque in north London complains he has been deprived of sunlight in his cell and says the removal of his infamous hooks has left him having to tear open food packages with his rotting teeth.
