BRITAIN: Abu Hamza kept plans of Sandhurst college.

ALLEGED race hate cleric Abu Hamza revealed yesterday that he kept plans of the royal military academy Sandhurst, which he admitted would be "very crucial to any terrorist".

Hamza's trial at the Old Bailey was told he was employed at Sandhurst immediately after gaining an engineering degree in 1989, and took on responsibility for maintaining the fence and a variety of buildings on the perimeter of the site.

Giving evidence at the start of his defence case, Hamza said he had kept drawings of the academy after leaving the job two years later.

"It would be very crucial to any terrorist," he told jurors.

The cleric claimed police had not confiscated the diagrams despite finding them in his house during raids in 1999 and 2004.

He also maintained that police and MI5 officers had played down the danger he posed during a series of meetings.

One occasion he allegedly asked Special Branch officers whether his preaching was breaking the law.

"They said 'You have freedom of speech. We don't have to worry as long as we don't see blood on the streets."

However, the court heard that MI5 agents had also warned that his sermons were taking him "close to the edge".

Moments after he went into the witness box Hamza dramatically denied encouraging his followers to murder.

Dressed in a blue tunic shirt and trousers and with his arms tucked into pockets, he had been escorted by two security guards.

Another court officer held a card for the hand-less preacher to read so he could swear in before giving his testimony.

When Hamza was asked by his counsel, Edward Fitzgerald QC, whether he had incited his listeners to murder in a series of sermons between 1997 and 2000 he replied "No" in a loud voice, and added: "Racism is one of the greatest sins."

The trial continues.

CAPTION(S):

An artist's view ofAbu Hamza in court