Brain scan could prevent Abu Hamza’s extradition

His QC said a brain scan could establish that he is unfit to plead and should not be extradited to face trial on terrorism charges.

Alun Jones QC told two judges in London that Hamza’s health is “deteriorating” and he is suffering from long-term depression, inability to concentrate and short-term memory loss.

Sir John Thomas, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, said the court would give its ruling at a later date.

Hamza is one of five terror suspects who have launched last-ditch legal challenges after the European Court of Human Rights refused to stop their US extradition.

Lawyers for the 54-year-old former imam at Finsbury Park mosque in north London are asking Sir John and Mr Justice Ouseley to continue an injunction preventing extradition, pending tests recommended by two doctors.

Mr Jones said the application was not “a device” to avoid  removal. Hamza is suffering from long-standing clinical depression as a result of being held for more than eight years in “harsh, utterly unacceptable  conditions” in the high-security unit at Belmarsh prison in south-east London.

Mr Jones said a scan could  establish whether he is suffering from some organic,  degenerative condition affecting his ability to concentrate on legal proceedings, and thus his fitness to plead.