 A court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by an Algerian al Qaeda suspect over his conviction for the murder of a British policemen in 2003. Kamel Bourgass, 31, was jailed for life last year for stabbing a police officer during a raid in the city of Manchester. Bourgass, a failed asylum seeker, was also convicted earlier this year on charges of plotting to spread ricin and other poisons on the streets of Britain. The appeal related only to his murder conviction.
| Stoopid Kamel. If you're only jugged for plotting to kill people your mouthpiece can eventually get you out, if only on a technicality. If they've got a corpse to point to, you're toast. |
Bourgass's lawyers argued that his murder trial was prejudiced because the jury was told of the ricin plot.
| But you gotta admit, the dead policeman helped... |
But appeal judges said the reference to the plot was relevant to the murder trial because it explained why Bourgass reacted so violently when he was arrested. His lawyer said on Tuesday the case would be taken to the country's highest appeal court, the House of Lords. The appeal took place in the wake of bombings in London that killed 56 people. Police have said they are confident of finding an al Qaeda link to the four British bombers who carried out the attacks on July 7. Bourgass's arrest followed an operation by anti-terrorist officers related to a suspected chemical weapons laboratory at a London flat in January 2003. The jury in his second trial failed to reach a verdict on a second charge of conspiracy to commit murder. He was jailed for 17 years.
| See what I mean? No corpses, just the intent to produce them. Wotta maroon. |
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