European judges awarded the radical preacher Abu Qatada compensation of £2,500 after ruling that his detention without trial after the 9/11 attacks was a breach of his human rights.

The controversial award came just 24 hours after the man once labelled Osama bin Laden's right hand man in Europe lost the latest round of his legal battle to stay in Britain with the House of Lords ruling he could be deported to Jordan to face trial.

Eight other detainees – none of whom were named by the court – also received similar modest cash awards. Two further claimants did not receive compensation. They had all been rounded up in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States under terror legislation introduced at the time by the Government.

The judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg accepted, when awarding the damages, that the 11 men were held in the face of a "public emergency".

However, they added that, even allowing for the special circumstances, the terms of the detention under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (2001), violated the defendants' right to liberty and security, the right to have the lawfulness of detention decided by a court and the right to compensation for unlawful detention.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said that she was "very disappointed" with the verdict, adding that the Government was informed that Abu Qatada and the other suspects were "a threat to our national security". Abu Qatada was first detained in 2002, when the UK’s Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) described him as a "truly dangerous individual".

"This judgment is based on historic legislation that we repealed nearly four years ago," Ms Smith said.

"We replaced this law with a twin-track approach of deportation with assurances for foreign nationals, and control orders for those whom we cannot prosecute or deport."

She added: "These men have all been found by our courts to present a threat to our national security. We argued strongly to the European Court that compensation should not be awarded to such individuals.

"Whilst I am very disappointed with any award, I recognise the Court has made substantially lower awards than these men sought in view of the fact these measures were devised in the face of a public emergency."

Yesterday’s ruling that Abu Qatada could be deported, however, was a significant victory for the Home Office’s policy – condemned by human rights groups – of relying on guarantees from foreign governments that deported suspects will not face torture or inhumane treatment on return home.

Siac said that the preacher had given the religious authority to numerous high-profile terrorists across the world, including those behind the September 11 attacks.

The 48-year-old father of five, who came to Britain in 1993 on a forged passport, was later bailed but placed under a control order. In 2005, he was arrested in preparation for his deportation to Jordan, but was again released on appeal.

He was returned to jail in November last year and is now in Long Lartin prison.

Including the Abu Qatada case, the Home Office is pursuing 12 deportation cases involving terror suspects in British prisons, some of which involve Jordan and Algeria, where the Lords ruled two others can also be deported.

However, Abu Qatada, 48, is expected to remain in the UK for up to two years as he is likely to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in a last attempt to avoid being deported.

Times Recommends

• Times Christmas appeal: Letter from the Editor
• Conferences — what a waste of money
• Schools supremo learns a painful lesson