Terror suspect 'may need gang protection if jailed'

A SUSPECTED terrorist wanted by the FBI for more than two decades before being found in Wales may be forced to join a criminal gang for protection in prison if convicted in the US, a court heard.

- TED HENNESSEY

Daniel Andreas San Diego, 47, was one of the agency's “most wanted fugitives” after bombings in San Francisco, California, in 2003, allegedly linked to an animal rights extremist group.

He was found last November at a property in a rural area next to woodland in the small village of Maenan, near Llanrwst, Conwy, Wales, where he had been living under a false identity.

An extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court will decide if he will be sent back to the United States.

In his written argument, Mark Summers KC, defending, said if sentenced to long-term imprisonment,

San Diego would enter a US Bureau of Prisons facility “beset by, and unable in practical terms to protect him from, serious violence”.

He wrote: “In reality, only joining criminal gangs can offer protection from violence within the United States Penitentiaries (USP).