Government may appeal on whether convicted terrorist had human rights breached

The Government has said it may appeal against a High Court ruling that a convicted terrorist had his human rights breached by being kept away from other prisoners.

The ruling on Tuesday said the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had breached Sahayb Abu’s human rights by not allowing him to mix with other prisoners, as a precautionary measure.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said on Thursday the ruling had provided a “perverse situation where a terrorist’s mental health is prioritised over national security”.

Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones confirmed that the Government was looking at appealing against the judgment by Mr Justice Sheldon, as part of a range of options available.

She said: “In relation to the most recent judicial review announced just yesterday, the Government is considering all of the available options, including the right to appeal.”

Abu was jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years in 2021 for plotting a lone wolf knife attack during the Covid pandemic.

He was put in a segregation centre at HMP Woodhill in Buckinghamshire, and later moved to HMP Full Sutton in east Yorkshire after Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber Salman, allegedly attacked several police officers.

On Tuesday, Mr Justice Sheldon found his segregation “cannot be justified substantively”, and interfered with Abu’s human rights.

Abu’s barristers had argued the decision to segregate him had breached the European Convention on Human Rights articles on protection against torture, and right to a private life.

They had also claimed it had caused him post-traumatic stress disorder and “severe depression”.

Mr Jenrick told MPs: “Sahayb Abu is danger to this country. This is an Isis fanatic, who bought a combat vest and a sword.

“Yet this week the High Court ruled that keeping him apart from other prisoners, to prevent him radicalising them, was a breach of his human rights.

“We’ve reached a perverse situation where a terrorist’s mental health is prioritised over national security, and the protection of the very men and women in uniform who are targets for these dangerous individuals with very little to lose.”

He said Abu was now in line for a payout as a result of the ruling, and said terrorists were “weaponising the ECHR … to milk the state”.

Ms Davies-Jones said: “The Government will always ensure that taxpayer money is used responsibly and effectively.”

She added: “I find it quite disingenuous that the right honourable gentleman, the almost-leader of the opposition, talks about leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. But can I ask him, if he feels so strongly about this, why his Government did absolutely nothing on this when in Government for 14 years?

“Where they talk about action, it is this Labour Government that is acting. We have been very clear that we will not fail to act regarding reform of the ECHR.”

Conservative MP for North West Norfolk James Wild said: “This terrorist was moved to a separation centre over concerns that he would use his extremist Islamist ideology to radicalise others.

“Yet the ruling says that this move was a breach of his right to a private life under the European Convention.

“Shouldn’t national security and prison officers’ safety come first? And will she rule out paying any money to this terrorist?”

Ms Davies-Jones said: “We cannot pre-empt the judicial decision, and we are looking at all rights to that in terms of appeal here, regarding that point.

“But on the separation centres, there is a select criteria for prisoners dedicated to going into a separation centre.

“Prisoners will only be selected if other options have all been considered, they are entitled to challenge their selection and raise complaints if needed.

“However, our priority remains, as I have stated, to the safety and security of our prisons, our prison staff and the general public.”