Qatada case costing £1m in legal fees

Immigration Minister Damian Green admitted the bill since 2002 has reached £825,000 and is set to continue to grow.

Home Secretary Theresa May has come in for intense criticism over her handling of the case after confusion over an appeal deadline means Qatada could be released on bail within weeks.

Mr Green said the tally related to legal fees incurred by the Government in trying to return the cleric to Jordan.

No figures were given for how much Qatada, described as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man, has received in legal aid.

The Legal Services Commission (LSC), which runs the legal aid scheme in England and Wales, confirmed last week the 51-year-old has been receiving public money to fund his appeals.

Qatada was arrested on the morning of Tuesday April 17, just hours after the Home Office said the time for any appeal was up.

But Qatada’s lawyers claim their appeal to the Strasbourg-based court, made at 11pm local time (10pm BST) on April 17, was just before the midnight deadline.

A panel of judges at the court will now decide whether the appeal was in time or not.