News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Police hunting a runaway terror suspect swooped on a mosque in West London and nabbed… a tabloid newspaper reporter.

The journalist had been distributing posters in the area around the mosque where Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed dodged the long arm of the law by donning a burka, offering a reward for the 27-year-old Somali-born Briton’s arrest.

A mob soon gathered and someone complained to Plod.

Uniformed officers arrived and took the reporter and his photographer to Acton police station on suspicion of “racially ­aggravated public disorder”.

The pair were quizzed under caution by detectives for four hours before being released.

Police say their investigation is “continuing” and charges could still follow. It seems to be open season on journos right now.

They’re so much easier to nick than fanatical al-Qaeda-trained jihadists, aren’t they? For one thing, they don’t cunningly disguise themselves in burkas.

This whole fiasco began when three terror suspects, including Mohamed, who were accused of tampering with their supposedly state-of-the-art monitoring tags, walked free from court after lawyers successfully argued their electronic tags were faulty.

Mohamed was said to have damaged his tag accidentally while kneeling down to pray five times a day.

After he was freed, Mohamed – who has been linked to al-Shabaab, the terrorist gang behind the Kenyan shopping mall massacre – walked in to the An-Noor Masjid Mosque and Community Centre in Acton.

CCTV footage showed him wearing his everyday clothes.

When he left the building a few hours later, he was wrapped in an Islamic ­woman’s burka.

The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, MI5 and the UK Border Agency have now joined forces to find him.

But last night, Mohamed was still at large.

I’m not surprised. In the current ­climate, where the police tiptoe around, terrified of infringing anyone’s human rights, it’s a brave copper who suspects somebody lumbering down the street in a burka might actually be a man and asks her/him to take it off – if you don’t mind, madam/sir.

Who’s to blame for this ludicrous state of affairs?

Home Secretary Theresa May ­ultimately carries the can.

But the finger is being pointed at Deputy PM Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems, ­forever sucking up to the civil liberties brigade, who persuaded the Coalition government to scrap Labour’s ­controversial “control orders” which ­allowed fanatics – including Mohamed, as it happens – to be placed under virtual house arrest.

These have been superseded by the wishy-washy Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures, alias T-Pims – which sound like some kind of trendy cocktails.

Judging by what’s happening now, they should be called out-of-control orders.

Shock as Ryanair profits nosedive

Shares in Ryanair – dubbed the rudest company in the world – have crashed by almost 13 per cent.

The Irish-based budget airline, which slaps extra charges on almost everything, admits its profits will fall for the first time in five years.

Complaints have reached such a height that even blabbermouthed boss Michael O’Leary – who once told unhappy passengers: “You’re not ­getting a refund so **** off. We don’t want to hear your sob stories” – concedes that customer service needs to improve.

Investors should fasten their ­safety belts. They’re in for a bumpy ride.

Screw loose over Sven

Sex with Sven Goran Eriksson was as dull as assembling Ikea flat-pack furniture, claims the ex-England football manager’s former squeeze Ulrika Jonsson.

“I had to do all the work and it was always over very quickly,” she adds.

So not exactly like putting together an Ikea bookcase, then. That job’s rarely over quickly.

Still, there are similarities. As Sven’s ex Nancy Dell’Olio would agree – one misplaced screw and the whole thing falls apart.

Poppies? Pin and bear it

Celebs who wear “posh” poppy jewellery are accused of taking cash away from the Royal British Legion’s annual charity campaign.

As little as 10 per cent of the money raised from the sale of some sparkly poppy brooches and charms can reach the Legion, it’s reported.

Most of us pay at least £1 for paper poppies which cost less than 10p to make.

Is it me or are they even flimsier this year? As soon as you pin one on it falls apart.

So you buy another. And another. This may well be the idea.

If so, I don’t mind in the least.

Outfit ban by village idiots

Mexican sombreros and fake moustaches were banned at a student fancy-dress party for being racist.

Birmingham University’s Guild of Students deemed the outfits offensive because they “related to a stereotype”.

A partygoer dressed as the Native American from 70s pop group The Village People was also turned away.

Here, the joke’s on these po-faced dimwits.

Far from being a stereotype, The Village People’s Felipe Rose wore “Redskin” regalia to honour his father – who was a Lakota Sioux.

'Allo 'Allo's Madonna is still hidden

A collection of “degenerate” paintings seized by Nazis in the 30s was found in a run-down apartment in Munich.

The stolen art works, valued at about £1billion, were found behind ancient tins of fruit and vegetables.

I’ve often wondered what happened to Van Klomp’s masterpiece The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies, which René Artois hid from Herr Flick in ‘Allo ‘Allo.

The authorities should carefully cut open any knackwurst sausage that they find.