Hate preacher Abu Hamza is pictured without his infamous hooks after two years in solitary confinement in US high-security jail as he tries to overturn his conviction

Evil hate preacher Abu Hamza cuts a frail and gaunt figure in this prison photograph taken after years in solitary confinement.

The hook-handed extremist - who was extradited to the US in 2012 and jailed for life - is seen looking skinny with white hair.

He is missing his two hook hands and is considerably less bulky than during the height of his notoriety.

The 59-year-old - a former imam of the Finsbury Park mosque in north London - was photographed inside ADX Florence "supermax" prison in Colorado.

The mountain jail is dubbed the 'Alcatraz of the Rockies' and is home to some of the most dangerous inmates in America.

The photo accompanies a 128-page rambling appeal document written by Hamza in which he rages about his life in the US prison.

He also complains about a skin condition on the stumps where his hands used to be, The Sun reported.

The image is believed to be designed to win the sympathy of US appeal court judges.

Hamza says the jail conditions in the US are "inhuman and degrading" and he wants to return to a UK prison .

His lawyer Sam Schmidt said: "He has his own opinions and wanted to ensure everything that should be in the appeal was."

The extremist was convicted in the UK in 2006 of charges including soliciting murder and possessing terrorist handbooks following a £1million trial.

There was also an eight-year legal battle to extradite him to the US where he was accused of supporting an alleged attempt to establish a terrorist training camp in Oregon.

He was finally extradited to New York in 2012 after a long-running battle over whether he would face the death penalty or torture in America.

Hamza was convicted by a US court of charges of hostage taking, conspiring to establish a militant training camp and calling for holy war. He was jailed for life with no possibility of parole.