British preacher Abu Hamza jailed for life in US

He was sentenced after a jury convicted him on 11 charges of kidnapping and terrorism

The hook-handed Imam, who is blind in one eye and a double-hand amputee, became a tabloid bogeyman in Britain for preaching vitriolic, anti-American sermons at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London. PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW YORK:
A US judge sentenced British preacher Abu Hamza on Friday to life in prison after a jury convicted him on 11 charges of kidnapping and terrorism, calling his crimes "evil" and "barbaric."

The hook-handed Imam, who is blind in one eye and a double-hand amputee, became a tabloid bogeyman in Britain for preaching vitriolic, anti-American sermons at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London.


During his sentencing, he stared impassively at the table and pursed his lips as Judge Katherine Forrest read out his sentence, eight months after he was convicted by a jury on May 19 after a four-week trial.

She told Abu Hamza he would be "committed to a sentence of life imprisonment in the custody of the United States attorney general and US marshalls," following a three-hour hearing.
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