View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Media Law
October 4, 2007

Damages for Dewsbury man over Express Sharia court claim

By Roger Pearson

A Dewsbury man today received a public apology and substantial libel damages at London’s High Court.

Kala Khan had sued Express Newspapers over an article in the Daily Express in April this year which focused on the establishment of a Sharia court in Dewsbury.

The article was accompanied by a photograph of Khan which the High Court was told the paper mistakenly believed was another man.

Today Khan’s solicitor told libel judge, Mr Justice David Eady that the paper now accepted that taken together the photographs and the text of the article would have been understood to allege that Mr Khan was instrumental in founding the Sharia court.

The paper also carried a comment piece the same day that the article appeared under the headline ‘We cannot sit back and let Sharia law take root in Britain.”

The judge was told that the allegations insofar as they were understood to refer to Mr Khan were ‘wholly untrue.”

He was told that the paper has acknowledge that Mr Khan has no involvement whatsoever in the alleged Sharia court, no interest in supporting it or the implementation of Sharia law in Britain and is not linked to Muslim extremism.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Counsel for the paper apologised for the distress and embarrassment suffered by Khan as a result of the articles.

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network