Christian preacher paid £10k damages by Met for second time accuses force of two-tier policing

A Christian preacher paid £10,000 damages by the Met for a second time has accused the force of “two-tier policing”.
 
Hatun Tash was preparing to make a speech about the Koran at Speakers Corner when she was frog-marched away by officers as a mob surrounded them jeering and shouting “Allah Akbar”.

The evangelist, whose own team had called the police after her Koran was stolen, accused the force of wrongfully arresting her for criminal damage and wearing a T-shirt depicting one of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the  Prophet Muhammad .

The Metropolitan Police has now paid £10,000 in damages and costs to Miss Tash, almost two years after it paid the preacher £10,000 for arresting her at the same spot in London’s Hyde Park which is known as the home of free speech.
 
Miss Tash said after her payout that she had been “dealing with two-tiered policing for years” and that a “Muslim mob” who gather at Hyde Park seemed to be “above the law”.

“I have been treated appallingly by the police and have been repeatedly humiliated when I had not done anything wrong,” she said.

“The police, as usual, just did exactly what the Muslim mob wanted them to do. They even sided with the men who had stolen my property and to this day have taken no action.

“The police have repeatedly taken away my rights and told me that they cannot protect me because they do not want to offend a certain group of people.”

Regularly criticises Islam

On June 22 Miss Tash, who regularly criticises Islam, was preparing to film a speech at Speakers Corner.
 
A Koran she had brought with her, which she said had holes in it to depict the holes in religious teaching, was snatched from her and her colleague called the police.

Soon after a group of officers arrived and tried to lead Miss Tash away from the scene where she was surrounded by an angry group, video shows.

When she refused she was physically led away by officers and taken to the police van.

At the time Miss Tash was wearing a T-shirt with a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad, which is seen as blasphemous in Islamic teaching. The Charlie Hebdo cartoons sparked terrorist attacks on the offices of the French satirical weekly magazine in 2015.

Miss Tash, director of the ministry Defend Christ Critique Islam, was arrested for criminal damage, a charge her lawyers say remains unclear, and for stirring up racial hatred.
 
She was taken to the police station, strip searched and interviewed at 4am the following day before being released at 9am with a letter informing her there would be no further action.
 
Miss Tash began legal proceedings alleging wrongful arrest and breach of her human rights, including her right to free speech.
 
Lawyers claimed that the police “did not reasonably believe that [Miss Tash] was involved in the commission of a criminal offence” and “believed that the easiest solution to the problem was ‘get rid of our client’.”

The Met is understood to have settled the case out of court and Miss Tash has donated the money to an organisation supporting individuals who decide to leave the Islamic faith and face persecution.

Protesters were harassing her

The force paid her the same amount in October 2022 after she threatened legal action over two arrests at Speakers Corner in 2020 and 2021.
 
On both of those occasions Miss Tash, who says she is a Muslim convert to Christianity, claims she told officers that Islamic protesters were  harassing and threatening her.
 
In July 2021 she was stabbed at Speakers Corner but her attacker has never been caught. In September 2022 she was the subject of a murder plot by Muslim convert Edward Little, who is now serving 24 years in jail.

Miss Tash said: “More must be done to properly deal with Islamic violence and intimidation at Speakers Corner. I am Christian and by default I believe that Muhammad is a false prophet. I should be allowed to say that in the UK without being stabbed or repeatedly arrested.

“I am concerned that power has been handed over to Muslim mobs on Britain’s streets, and that there is no coming back from this. The British public urgently need and deserve better policing.”

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre which has supported Miss Tash, said: “There is a two-tier approach to anyone questioning the nature of Islam.”

Scotland Yard has been contacted for comment.