Calls grow to sack judge who ‘wished 7/7 bombings mastermind all the best’ upon his release

Haroon Aswat, 50, who is detained in Britain under the Mental Health Act - is expected to be released from hospital in “the relatively near future” following effective treatment.

He has confessed to being the “mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks and a 2005 terrorist attack in the UK”, according to The Sun.

Aswat was jailed in 2015 in the US for 20 years after admitting trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon.

He was still reportedly threatening to kill Christians, Jews and Muslim as recently as 2022 - and anti-terror police have previously raised concerns that he is still a threat, while a High Court judge has previously described him as posing an “ongoing risk."

Despite those concerns, Justice Robert Jay still reportedly wished Aswat the best at an April 1 High Court hearing.

Read more: Terrorist who said he 'masterminded 7/7' set to be freed from secure unit 'within days'

In a transcript of the High Court case obtained by The Sun, Mr Justice Jay told Aswat “it could not have been too pleasant being in American custody all that time."

Aswat told the judge he will return to his family in Yorkshire when he is released, telling him he wants to put his past behind him.

“I have to wish you all the best and say to you that the way forward is to keep on your medication, listen to the advice you are going to get, and keep out of the sort of things you were doing,” the judge said.

“Because you saw where it ended up and you do not want to go back to that, I am sure,” he added.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has led calls for the judge to be sacked over the remarks.

“The public demands tougher justice than this by far. Aswat should be in a high-security jail until he dies and Mr Justice Jay should be sacked,” he said.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick described the remarks as “an insult” to the 7/7 victims, adding that “Nobody should be wishing this evil terrorist well”.

“Justice Jay should be ashamed of acting pally with a convicted terrorist,” he added.

Aswat has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which typically comes with symptom including hallucinations and delusions.

But in 2022, a psychiatrist ruled that there was no evidence that Aswat had the condition when the committed the offences.

He is being at Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London.

Doctors say he is well enough to be released “in the relatively near future” but UK law means he cannot be formally risk-assessed while detained.

Security fears were raised after probation officials refused to assess his risk due to rules preventing checks on psychiatric patients.

Det Chief Supt Gareth Rees, head of operations for the Met’s SO15 Counter Terrorism Command, has shared his “grave concerns” that Aswat remains a threat to security.

He told the High Court in a witness statement: “He has spoken positively of his time with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and expressed aspirations to reconnect with them.

“Based on my experience, this is conduct which gives me grave concerns about the risk which the defendant poses to the UK’s national security and to the public.”

Aswat was arrested but never faced trial over the 7/7 bombings which killed 52 people in London in 2005.

Aswat, of Batley, West Yorks, was deported back to the UK in December 2022 and is held under the Mental Health Act at Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London.

A Government spokeswoman said: “If any individual poses a threat to national security the police and intelligence services have a range of powers they can apply.

“We will always do whatever is necessary inside the law to protect the public from any risk posed by former terrorist offenders or people of terrorist concern.”