The trial of a 22-year-old Palestinian student accused of being a member of the banned wing of Hamas has ended after a judge ruled there was no evidence to link him with the group.

Adnan Abdelah was the first person to be prosecuted in Britain under the Terrorism Act 2000, which came into force in February 2001, and which outlawed membership of the group.

Mr Abdelah was studying at North Tyneside College, after coming to the UK on a boat from Norway.

It had been alleged at Newcastle Crown Court that he boasted about his links with the outlawed wing of the Hamas group and how he would bomb buildings in England.

Legal argument

The court ordered that Abdelah remain in detention while an application for asylum was dealt with.

Toby Hedworth, QC, prosecuting, said at the start of the trial in early May that mainstream Hamas might claim to have "educational, charitable and social" purposes.

But membership of the military wing of the organisation was illegal.

Mr Abdelah, of Bavington Drive, Fenham, Newcastle, had denied having membership of a proscribed organisation, Hamas iz al-din al-quezzem, or saying he belonged to it.

On Wednesday, following a two-day period of legal argument, trial judge David Hodson, ruled there was no evidence on which Mr Abdelah could be convicted and directed the jury to clear him of both charges.

Mr Abdelah had also faced a related charge of witness intimidation centred on a letter he sent to a college lecturer. That charge was left to lie on file.