There was nothing more sickening than to see a man tell people to kill a fellow human being because he or she was not the same religion as them.

So, I think it was only a matter of time until Abu Hamza was hauled before the courts.

To use religion as a means to incite murder is a crime that should be punished and rightly so.

I do however feel that Abu Hamza was guilty even before he stepped into the courtroom.

He quickly became the archetypal evil' fall-guy. Someone who not only looked evil but backed it up by saying evil things.

In a world that has found a new enemy' it seems Abu Hamza became the perfect public face of that enemy.

It is strange that this man who had been saying these words for so many years was only sentenced now.

And if there had not been a 21st century war on terror would we still be sitting here discussing the guilt of Abu Hamza?

Highly public trials like this won't stop other Abu Hamza-like figures emerging.

It won't make any difference how many of them are jailed.

Some would say it is up to the Muslim community to ensure that people like Abu Hamza are outcast. The fact is that they already are.

What the Muslim community cannot do is stop people like Abu Hamza becoming almost mini-celebrities whose words are splashed on every front page as soon as they open their mouths.

The recent furore over the blasphemous cartoon also highlighted this issue well.

The reasons why these the publications were so offensive seemed to be lost in a now almost familiar battle between western values of freedom' and ancient religious beliefs.' There seems to be no middle ground.

Although one has to point out that it was quite refreshing to see that the media in the UK were sensible enough not to re-publish the cartoons.

What was also quite sinister this week was the message sent out to the people of Britain.

To put it bluntly, it is okay to say that Islam is a wicked religion' but not okay to say All non-believers should be killed.' Abu Hamza and Nick Griffin have more things in common than they would like to think.

They both claim to be exercising their right to free speech.

They both received more publicity than was necessary.

And both are guilty of ranting and raving for the benefit of no-one.