Abu Hamza's son sentenced to jail for drug dealing

Terrorist father was arrested and extradited after decades of terrorist recruitment

Yasser Kamel blamed his own criminal behaviour on his father’s terrorist activities. Getty

The son of extremist cleric Abu Hamza blamed his life of crime on his father's imprisonment for terrorism.

Yasser Kamel, 31, made the claim in an English court through his lawyer as he was sentenced to jail for drug dealing.

Abu Hamza, whose real name is Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, was sentenced to seven years in jail in the UK for hate speech. In 2015 he was sentenced to life in jail in the US for terrorism offences.

From 1997, Abu Hamza was an imam at Finsbury Park mosque, in north London, reportedly attended by September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, some of the London Tube bombers and shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Abu Hamza was affiliated to Al Muhajiroun, the militant extremist Salafist group. He publicly praised acts of terrorism, including the September 11 attacks in the US.

Kamel was jailed for four years this week for drug offences.

He was caught with cocaine, amphetamines and ketamine worth £30,000 ($41,839) when police raided his flat in Park Royal, London, in December 2019.

A police officer stands in front of Finsbury Park Mosque in London. EPA

He admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and one count of possession with intent to supply Class B drugs.

His lawyer, William Evans, told Southwark Crown Court that Kamel went off the rails after his father’s well-publicised exploits.

"He is one of the children of Abu Hamza, the preacher convicted in the UK and extradited," he said.

“The impact upon him of what happened to his father was traumatic. He feels he has suffered significantly as a result of what his father committed when he was only a child.

“This is a picture of a 14-year-old child whose life was turned upside down.

“It’s no coincidence that his offending started in 2008 when he was 18 and finished prior to this in 2012 when he was 22 and things concluded with his father’s extradition.”

Kamel was 14 when his father was first arrested and 22 when the preacher was extradited to the US.

Abu Hamza was sentenced in Britain on a terrorist charge and six counts of soliciting murder.

In October 2015, he was extradited to the US to face 11 charges related to terrorism and kidnapping.

His crimes included facilitating satellite communications between kidnappers for a 1998 attack in Yemen in which four tourists were killed, supporting plans to open an Al Qaeda training camp in the US state of Oregon and sending someone to a training camp in Afghanistan.

The court was told Kamel found it “extremely difficult” to find employment once his identity became known.

“He has struggled for any kind of normality. That culminated in 2019 to changing his name from Yasser Kamal ... he now calls himself Jamal Luciano to distance himself from that,” the lawyer said.

“He believes he is under surveillance; whether he is right I don’t know. His family certainly have been; he may still be.”

Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced Kamal to four years in prison.

“There is evidence you were dealing to individuals, the drugs were high purity and the circumstances of the drugs show you have close links to the original source and the expectation of substantial financial gain,” she said.

Another of Abu Hamza’s sons, Mohammed Kamel Mostafa, was sentenced to jail in Yemen for plotting to blow up British and American targets.

Abu Hamza is suing the US for mistreatment and seeking release from jail on compassionate grounds.

He said the hooks he uses for hands were confiscated by prison guards and that he has been subjected to “inhumane and degrading conditions”.