Doctor faces a battle to return to his profession

The neurosurgeon cleared of terrorism charges now faces a battle to stay in Britain and continue his career.

The neurosurgeon cleared of terrorism charges now faces a battle to stay in Britain and continue his career.

At Woolwich Crown Court yesterday, Jordanian Mohammed Asha, 28, was acquitted of any link to the Glasgow and London car bomb attacks.

Tayab Ali, his solicitor, said the father-of-one was determined to return to the profession he loved.

He said: "He wants to stay in this country and resume his medical career. He is very disappointed that he is still in custody after being acquitted in one of this country's biggest cases."

Dr Asha did not walk free from the high-security dock at the end of the nine-week trial. He has been served with deportation papers after his highly-skilled migrant programme visa expired while he was on remand.

Members of his legal team said he is unhappy that he now faced being transferred from prison to a government immigration detention centre.

They were last night considering whether to take their case to the High Court to force the authorities to free him.

A source close to Dr Asha said he was already prepared to challenge deportation and planned to apply for bail as soon as possible. He said the doctor was "in limbo" but "extremely happy, emotional and already thinking of getting back into practising medicine."

It is understood that the doctor, whose wife and young son returned to Jordan after his arrest, has little money and no job offer.

At the time of his arrest on June 30 last year, Dr Asha worked for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, in Stoke-on-Trent. He was preparing to transfer to the Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry, to continue his training in neurosurgery.

The court heard evidence from a string of colleagues who paid tribute to his extraordinary skills and learning.

Consultant neurosurgeon Rupert Price said he gave Dr Asha a glowing reference, the best he had ever written.

Speaking after the verdicts, trial judge Mr Justice Mackay appeared to support Dr Asha's bid to remain in Britain as a practising doctor.

He said: "Dr Asha, you have been found not guilty by the jury on both counts and that means what it says.

"You are not guilty of these charges and may be discharged and resume, I hope, your life as it was before."

The judge was also critical of the way police had dealt with Dr Asha, who was taken to a west London police station after his arrest on the M6 in Cheshire, six hours after the Glasgow attack.

The next morning, two "safety interviews" were conducted before Dr Asha was allowed to see a solicitor.

Such interviews were introduced to allow police in fast-moving terrorist cases to ask if other lives remained at risk. But the trial heard how police not only delayed Dr Asha's access to a solicitor but lied to him during the interviews.

The judge said: "The defendant's case is this procedure was unfair, unjust and he had been lied to and bullied.

"It is for you to judge that suggestion. It is a serious matter. The police have an extremely difficult job to do and little time to do it.

"What this trial may have revealed to you is that on this occasion Mohammed Asha's rights were not fully respected."

Dr Asha arrived at Paddington Green shortly before 1am and was first interviewed at 10.20am on July 1. After naming Bilal Abdulla and Kafeel Ahmed as suspects, he was re-interviewed three times.

In the second interview, at 3.35pm, the officers claimed to have evidence that Dr Asha was involved in the attacks. One said: "I've been doing this for a long time but I'm going to let you into a little secret, OK? Our investigation has led us to show that you are probably a little bit more involved that you just let on to us this morning."

Police admitted during the trial that this was not true and they had no new information about Dr Asha.

Barrister Stephen Kamlish QC said Dr Asha was only able to speak to get legal advice after 10 hours in custody.

He said: "These officers disgracefully lied to him, intimidated him and bullied him into thinking they had evidence against him."