Terrorist on the school run: Bin Laden's 'ambassador in Europe' to be free in days... and judge says he can take his child to class

Preacher of hate Abu Qatada (left) can be released on bail after more than six years in prison, Mr Justice Mitting (right) ruled

Last night critics described the bail ruling as a ‘disgrace’. Former home secretary David Blunkett warned that Qatada was ‘extraordinarily dangerous and we don’t want him on our streets’.

Qatada has spent much of the past decade in a high-security prison and has cost taxpayers more than £1million in benefits, prison costs and legal fees.

Ministers are attempting to deport him to Jordan to stand trial on terror charges, but three weeks ago they were blocked by European human rights judges. 

Yesterday Government lawyers argued the fanatic should remain in prison while they continue efforts to remove him and insisted he presented an ‘unusually significant risk to the UK’.

But the Special Immigration Appeals Commission ruled he should be released on bail, to resume his life with his wife and five children.

Qatada is expected to walk free from Long Lartin high-security prison in Worcestershire on Monday.

Under his bail conditions, he will be forced to wear an electronic tag and comply with a 22-hour curfew within a defined zone around his home address, thought to be in Wembley, north London.

Meetings with anyone other than his immediate family will have to be approved by security officials. If he breaks the conditions, he could be back behind bars within hours. 

Officials do not consider it likely that Qatada will take part in the planning of a terrorist attack or other operational activities. 

However, it is feared he could use the internet to give justification for attacks overseas or in Britain.

Officials want to prevent this happening by banning him from having a mobile phone or access to the internet, where his sermons could be uploaded on to extremist websites.

Qatada’s strict curfew also reflects the fact that he has, in the past, been accused of terrorist fundraising. 

He was found to have £170,000 cash in his possession, including £805 in an envelope marked ‘For the mujahedin in Chechnya’.

The bail ruling came as the respected Royal United Services Institute think tank warned that ‘sources estimate that at least 200 would-be suicide bombers are actively planning attacks in the UK’.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Mitting said Qatada’s bail conditions could be relaxed within three months unless Britain makes ‘demonstrable progress’ in negotiations to send the 52-year-old home.