A convicted Al Qaeda terrorist who planned a ‘dirty bomb’ attack in London took part in comedy classes while in prison, it emerged yesterday.
Zia Ul Haq, serving 18 years for his part in the failed terror bid, signed up for the eight-day course with 17 other inmates.
But Justice Secretary Jack Straw halted the comedy workshop at top security Whitemoor jail in Cambridgeshire, branding the scheme ‘totally unacceptable’.
He warned prison governors to ‘take account of the public acceptability test’ when approving courses.
The director of high security prisons has now launched an inquiry to consider whether further action is needed.
The comedy course began on Monday and ran for three days before Mr Straw stepped in.
Prison sources said those taking part were to be given lessons in stand-up comedy, improvisation, visual arts and creative writing.
On completing the course, the prisoners were to be awarded a certificate and put on a comedy show for fellow inmates.
Ul Haq, 29, from Paddington, West London, has a degree in construction management. He worked for a London firm of chartered surveyors and advised his terror cell on where explosives should be placed to ensure that buildings collapsed.
He was jailed last year for conspiring to blow up buildings in the capital and elsewhere in Britain.
John Falding, 65, whose partner Anat Rosenberg, 39, died in Tavistock Square in the 7/7 London terror attacks, said: ‘My first reaction was “Are they having a laugh?” It seems a bit off-colour and tasteless.
‘A comedy course is a step too far, because this guy is a convicted terrorist. Certainly the survivors and relatives of those who died in the London bombings are not laughing. There is no joy in their lives.’
Matthew Elliott of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘Being in prison is no laughing matter. Criminals don’t go to jail to have a good time.
‘By all means, money should be spent to train prisoners and give them skills for when they come out, but in the meantime life for them should be pretty tough.
‘There are a lot of ordinary people who would love to go on a comedy course but cannot afford it. Why should criminals get a go at the taxpayers’ expense?’
Mr Straw said: ‘As soon as I heard about the course at HMP Whitemoor, I instructed that it must be immediately cancelled. It is totally unacceptable.
‘Prisons should be places of punishment and reform.
Senior managers in the Prison Service, who were also unaware of the course, take the same view as me.’
Although Mr Straw regards education and training of prisoners as an essential part of the prison service, he said this must be in ‘constructive pursuits’.
He added: ‘The courses available, and the manner in which they are delivered, must be appropriate in every prison.
‘There is a crucial test: can the recreational, social and educational classes paid for out of taxpayers’ money (or otherwise) be justified to the community?’
The eight-day workshop was run by the London-based Comedy School and is believed to have cost taxpayers £8,000.
The charity has been working inside prisons since 1998 and aims to help improve key skills such as communication and teamwork.
The Comedy School’s director Keith Palmer said: ‘We use comedy as an education and rehabilitation tool through humour.’
Mr Palmer said the workshops helped inmates examine themselves more closely and take criticism. He added: ‘This process has helped some prisoners address the reasons why they are in and out of jail. When they realise how others perceive them, often the penny drops.’
Last month Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers warned that religious extremists, including Al Qaeda members, are forcibly recruiting other inmates at Whitemoor, which houses 360 serious offenders.
Her report said the number of Muslim inmates has risen to 120 while staff are ‘almost exclusively white’.