Monday, July 5, 2010

Son of hate preacher Abu Hamza jailed for attacking police at London demonstration

The son of hate preacher Abu Hamza has been locked up for attacking police during anti-Israel riots in London.

Yasser Kamel, 20, was caught on camera lobbing sticks at police and wielding a stolen police riot shield during a demonstration against Gaza sanctions outside the Israeli embassy.

Wearing a scarf to disguise his face, the student was at the frontline when hundreds of protesters caused £50,000 of damage to shops and cafes last year.

Then 18, he was seen throwing four missiles at police before changing his clothing to evade detection, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

Yesterday the son of the firebrand cleric was sentenced to 12 months in youth detention after pleading guilty to one count of violent disorder.

During violent clashes on January 10 last year one riot officer suffered a broken jaw after a metal rivet - used to clip fences together - was thrown at the police line and smashed through the protective visor on his helmet.

The officer was seen on a video recorded by police rolling on the ground in agony after being hit by the rivet, which was thrown by another protester.

Hamza's son arrived at the protest around 4.45pm as police tried to quell the increasing disorder after rioters smashed cafe windows.

He was seen on camera confronting officers and being shown how to use the police riot shield by another demonstrator who had stolen it from officers.

Police arrested Kamel that evening. The student, who has two previous convictions for dishonesty, refused to watch as a series of still images and videos were shown to the court of his role in the riot.

Benn Maguire, prosecuting, said of the disorder: 'Unfortunately some of the individuals abused their democratic right to demonstrate, and pursued a cause of what we would say is serious public disorder.'

Mr Maguire said Kamel, who lives in Shepherd's Bush, West London, 'was an active and enthusiastic participant.'

During earlier hearings, Kamel tried to ban reports of his relationship to his father, claiming his trial would be prejudiced.

Defending, Matthew Ryder QC asked the judge not to jail Kamel, saying a tough community order would be appropriate.

But Judge John Denniss said: 'I accept the mitigation that you only arrived at 4.43pm and had not been involved in the earlier fighting and violent disorder that had taken place.

'But the videos also demonstrate the gravity and seriousness of what was taking place during this. This was extremely serious.'

It is not the first time that members of Abu Hamza's family have appeared in the British courts.

His eldest son, Mohammed Kamel Mostafa, was jailed for plotting to blow up British tourists. \

He was accused of masterminding a plot to sabotage economic and tourist sites in Yemen in August 1999, when he was just 17.

He returned to London in January 2002 after serving three years in prison in the Arab state.

Last year Hamza's sons Hamza Kamel, 22, Mohamed Mostafa, 27, and stepson Mohssin Ghailam, 28, were sent to prison for a £1million luxury car scam.

Abu Hamza, 52, who was jailed for seven years in February 2006 for incitement to murder and inciting racial hatred, is currently in a high security jail fighting attempts to extradite him to the U.S. on terror charges.

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