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Abu Qatada, the cleric once described as Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe, has received more than £500,000 in legal aid, a figure expected to rise as he continues to resist government efforts to deport him.
The figure, believed to be one of the largest awarded to an individual, will infuriate the home secretary, Theresa May, who has been leading attempts to remove a man she describes as "a serious risk to our national security".
The government has repeatedly tried to have the 52-year-old preacher removed from the country. But concerns that evidence obtained under torture would be used against Abu Qatada if he were returned to Jordan, where he faces allegations of plotting bomb attacks, have seen his lawyers successfully oppose his deportation.
The legal impasse has become embarrassing for the government. "I am completely fed up that this man is still at large in our country," the prime minister, David Cameron, said recently.
Jeremy Wright, under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, confirmed in a parliamentary answer that, as of 5 December, his department had provided £515,778 in legal aid funding to the cleric. Wright also confirmed that the total cost would be higher. "The legal services commission has not received final claims from Abu Qatada's solicitors," he said.
The sum is significantly higher than figures published by the government earlier this year, indicating that the Islamist preacher's legal aid bill has risen sharply as the legal row over his deportation has raged.
Justice secretary Chris Grayling expressed dismay at the size of the sums involved in such cases. "We must never lose sight of the fact that legal aid is paid for by the taxpayer," he said. "The total costs in some cases seem very high, and many – myself included – will question whether they provide value for money." He warned that such cases dented public confidence. "Legal aid is a fundamental part of our legal system, but resources aren't limitless," Grayling said. "Legal aid should be reserved for cases where there is genuine need."
But some experts blamed the rising costs on the government's decision to fight a losing battle to deport someone in breach of the Human Rights Act. "Abu Qatada has already served the equivalent of a 20-year sentence here," said Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers.
"We can't charge him here because he would walk free, having served his time. And he can't go to Jordan. So the legal challenges will continue for years."
In November the government was forced to release Abu Qatada from prison on restrictive bail conditions, which include him being forced to wear a GPS satellite tag. Around 60 officers from Scotland Yard, MI5 and a private security company reportedly now monitor his movements in a security operation that costs an estimated £100,000 a week.
Last week Abu Qatada, his wife and four of his five children were moved to a new home after asking to be relocated due to media intrusion. It has been reported that his previous house, paid for out of benefits, cost the taxpayer £1,900 a month.
Keeping him in a maximum security prison for more than eight years has cost the taxpayer an estimated £850,000 while the Home Office has confirmed its own legal bill for trying to deport him has so far totalled £825,000.
Since 2009, £217,286 has been seized from Abu Qatada's bank accounts, which have been frozen by the government. But the sum is dwarfed by the amount awarded to him in legal aid.
In 2005 he was awarded almost £389,000 to fund his appeal against deportation. In 2009 his lawyers received more than £5,000 to launch a judicial review into his prison conditions while he was being held at HMP Belmarsh in London. In the same year he received £2,500 in compensation from the European court of human rights for "unlawful detention".
"Legal aid is there to ensure everyone has equal access to justice, but it is sickening to see the extent to which this vile hate preacher has been taking advantage of it," said Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance. "Abu Qatada's shameless exploitation of the British legal and benefits system has gone on for too long. It is bad enough that he is still in Britain, worse yet that we are paying for the privilege."
According to claims made on behalf of the government to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) in 2007, Abu Qatada has "given encouragement to the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorism overseas by providing spiritual and religious advice to a number of extreme Islamists prepared to carry out terrorist attacks". But legal experts believe there is little evidence obtained lawfully that could be used to bring a case against Abu Qatada in the UK. Any trial would be a potential embarrassment to the security services, which have sought to enlist the cleric's help in the past.
According to documents filed with Siac: "In 1996-98, the security service had been asking him to act as a restraint on the Armed Islamic Group and, more generally, Algerian refugee activities in the UK."
