Outrage as Al-Qaeda terrorist who murdered British cop may walk free

An Al-Qaeda terrorist who stabbed a police officer to death and plotted a major poison attack on Britain's streets could soon be free.

Kamel Bourgass, who has strong links to hate preacher Anjem Choudary, is serving a minimum of 22 years after being convicted of murdering Detective Constable Stephen Oake during a botched police raid in 2003.

And in 2005, the Algerian failed asylum seeker was jailed for 17 years for plotting to spread poison and ricins across the UK.

He was a top al-Qaeda operative and had discussed various ways of dispersing the poison, including smearing it on car door handles in north London.

Despite widely being regarded as one of the country's most dangerous offenders, he has been referred to the Parole Board.

Choudary was last week convicted of terror offences and now faces life in jail. He was found guilty of still directing banned organisation al-Muhajiroun. It has been linked to some of the country's most dangerous terrorists.

There is no evidence they had direct contact but Bourgass had attended meetings of the group.

A Parole Board spokesperson said: "Bourgass is currently referred and at the initial assessment stage."

This means his case will be assessed by parole experts.

They could at that point release him immediately, direct a hearing or decide he is to stay in prison. Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan and a terrorism expert, branded the news of Bourgass's possible release by the Parole Board a "scandal".

He said: "This is deeply disturbing. This is clearly one of the most dangerous terrorists in this country.

"And with Choudary about to be put away, it shows the challenges law enforcement have, with a follower about to be released - a follower capable of acts of real evil. The system never favours the victims or those on the receiving end of these atrocities."

And last night, a source said: "It's a worrying situation. For him to be in the Parole Board process means there's a very real chance of him being released.

"His links to an organisation run by Choudary show how dangerous this man is.

"And it also shows that despite Choudary's conviction, his tentacles of hatred and radicalisation still spread far." DC Oake, 40, of Greater Manchester Police, was the first officer to be killed by al-Qaeda. He died protecting his colleagues from the knife-wielding terrorist.

Anti-terror cops found a suspected chemical weapons lab when they raided a flat in Wood Green in January 2003.

They discovered castor oil beans - the raw material for ricin - along with equipment needed to produce it and recipes for ricin, cyanide, botulinum and other poisons, along with instructions for explosives.

No ricin was actually found at the flat or at any of the defendants' other addresses.

After the raid, police launched a nationwide search to find Bourgass, who fled from London to Manchester, where he was captured on 14 January 2003.

It was there, during a desperate bid to get away from a flat in the Crumpsall area of north Manchester, that he stabbed DC Oake to death with a kitchen knife and injured four other officers.