Mohammed Yaseen, an Iraqi national linked to both Al Qaeda and ISIS, was observed by the Mail on Sunday last week inside a Co-op store close to Windsor Castle, one of King Charles' residences. He had been allowed to remain in the UK and housed in a bail hostel in Windsor.
Yaseen was part of the group that beheaded Ken Bigley, a 62-year-old British civil engineer from Liverpool who was kidnapped and murdered in Iraq in 2004. He later joined ISIS and belonged to a unit that carried out stonings, beheadings and mass executions.
Channel crossing and detention
He crossed the English Channel in a small boat last December and was subsequently sent to prison. After being released, he was put up in a bail hostel in Windsor and was able to walk around the Berkshire town provided he wore his ankle tag and adhered to a 6pm-6am curfew.
There were apparently no restrictions on the former terrorist visiting Windsor Great Park, where William, the Prince of Wales, his wife, Princess Catherine, and their children live, or the famous castle.
Originally, after giving a false name to officials, he was placed in a taxpayer-funded migrant hotel in Basingstoke before routine biometric checks revealed who he really was.
German trial findings
Documents from a trial in Germany stated that Yaseen guarded public executions with a "Kalashnikov assault rifle", including a couple alleged to be "adulterers" being stoned to death. Prosecutors added that Yaseen acted as security during two "mass executions".
A judge decided there was a risk that Yaseen could be mistreated or killed if he were deported back to Iraq when the German government tried to do so. He applied again to stay in Britain, which has stopped the Home Office's attempts to oust him from the country. The Mail on Sunday reports that the Foreign Office has suggested he could face "mistreatment" if returned to his home country.
Recalled to prison
Yaseen was recalled to prison hours after the Home Office was contacted about him, the newspaper reported. It added that he had been returned to jail after reportedly breaching his "good behaviour" condition at the bail hostel. A source said: "He is no longer in Windsor."
Yaseen will get legal aid for his application to remain in Britain. According to the Mail on Sunday, experts suggest that if he were to take the case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, British taxpayers could have to pay £500,000. Because he will have to be housed in taxpayer-funded accommodation, fed and monitored, the annual cost of keeping him in the UK could reach as much as £85,000, they added.
Government response
A Government spokesperson told the Express: "Any foreign national who receives a prison sentence in the UK is referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity and will be barred from ever returning. Over 11,000 foreign criminals including murderers and rapists have been returned or deported in the two years since the last election – a 41% increase on the two years prior."
It is understood that the Government wants to remove foreign national offenders to protect the public and ease the burden on taxpayers. The Early Removal Scheme under sentencing and criminal justice legislation has been tweaked so most foreign prisoners can be deported after serving 30% of their prison time, rather than 50%.
