Terror suspect wins court ruling

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A terror suspect has won a High Court ruling that he was unlawfully deprived of his liberty by a control order which restricted his movements.

Mr Justice Ouseley, in London, said the order would be "quashed as a nullity".

Home Secretary John Reid said he was "disappointed with the decision" and would appeal against it.

The order had confined the man, who has dual UK-Libyan nationality and is known as AF for legal reasons, to his home in Greater Manchester for 14 hours a day.

In the remaining 10 hours he had been required to remain in a nine square mile area around his home.

A new, less restrictive order is now being imposed on AF by the home secretary.

As a result of the ruling, AF will be freed from high-security Belmarsh Prison in south-east London.

He had been held there pending trial for breaching the control order.

Essential measure

Mr Reid said: "Control orders were never our preferred option but they remain an essential measure to deal with suspected terrorists who cannot be prosecuted or deported.

"Revised control orders are inevitably weaker than those originally imposed and pose a real and increased risk that individuals subject to these weaker conditions will re-engage in terrorism or abscond.

"The overall effect is that it is now more difficult for the police and security service to protect the public from terrorism."

Lawyers for the home secretary had argued the order was only a restriction on movement and did not constitute a deprivation of liberty within the meaning of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.