Son of radical preacher Abu Hamza has firearms charges dropped
Hamza's son Imran Mostafa Kamel, 26, had been charged with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear or danger after police began invesitgating the New Year's Day murder of a security guard at a party
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Firearms charges against the son of radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza have been dropped.
Imran Mostafa Kamel, 26, of Ealing, west London, was arrested as police investigated the murder of a security guard at a New Year's Eve party in the West End, Scotland Yard said.
He was charged with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear or danger and possession of a firearm when prohibited for life.
But on Thursday it emerged that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had decided to discontinue the case.
At an Old Bailey hearing lasting just a minute and attended only by the media, His Honour Judge Mark Dennis QC announced: "On Friday January 25 the Crown Prosecution Service served notice of the fact that the matter had been further considered and the decision taken by them to discontinue the matter at this stage. The matter is therefore discontinued."
A CPS spokesman explained: "We have a duty to keep cases under continuing review and, following a further review of all the available evidence in this case, we concluded that the evidential test to provide a realistic prospect of conviction was not met.
"The charges were therefore discontinued."
Security guard Tudor Simionov, 33, was working outside the private event at Fountain House in Park Lane, central London, on January 1.
He was attacked at about 5.30am and stabbed to death as he tried to stop gatecrashers storming into the party.
Scotland Yard said the charges against Mr Kamel were brought in connection with a separate incident at Fountain House on January 1 at about 5.36am, in which no firearm was discharged.
The charges were not directly connected to Mr Simionov's death or the other people who were injured in the attack, a spokesman for the force said.
Abu Hamza was previously jailed in the UK for inciting violence and was extradited to New York after an eight-year legal battle.
He is currently serving a life sentence in the US for terrorism offences.