A TERRORIST has won a legal challenge ruling that his six-month segregation in a North-East prison was unlawful.

Liquid bomber Tanvir Hussain, convicted for his part in a 2006 suicide bomb plot to bring down seven passenger planes over the Atlantic Ocean, was segregated from other inmates at HMP Frankland.

The prison alleged Hussain was intimidating and bullying other prisoners over matters of faith, an accusation denied by Hussain, and authorities decided to separate him from other prisoners ''for good order and discipline''.

Hussain, who is serving life with a minimum tariff of 32 years, was segregated at HMP Frankland from April 2010 until October 2010.

However, in a joint legal action taken with Ricin plot conspirator Kamel Bourgass, Hussain today won a Supreme Court case ruling that his long-term segregation was unlawful.

The Court unanimously ruled that their segregation was lawful for the first three days, but judges ruled that "appellant's segregation beyond the initial period of 72 hours was not authorised, so was unlawful".

The pair had also raised human rights issues - they claimed their rights had been violated - but that aspect of their case was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Bourgass, an Algerian, is serving 17 years for conspiracy to commit public nuisance by using poisons or explosives in relation to the 2002 Ricin terrorist plot.

He is also serving a life sentence for murdering Detective Constable Stephen Oake, 40, with a kitchen knife during his 2003 arrest at a flat in Manchester.

He injured four other officers during that attack and is serving sentences for attempted murder of two officers and wounding a third.

While detained at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, Bourgass was segregated from March 10 2010 until April 22 and again from April 23 until October or November of that year.

Hussain was one of three men convicted of a plot to launch suicide attacks on flights from Heathrow to America and Canada using liquid bombs made of hydrogen peroxide hidden in soft drink bottles.