Express pays out libel damages to Inayat Bunglawala

Express Newspapers today (17 Dec) apologised in the High Court to Inayat Bunglawala, Advisor on Policy and Research at ENGAGE, over false allegations of extremism which appeared in an article concerning Prince Harry’s active service in Afghanistan. The newspaper, which had already published a full and prominent apology both in its hard copy and online editions, has also paid Mr Bunglawala £45,000 in libel damages, together with his legal costs.

In a front-page article published on 1 March 2008 and entitled “TARGET HARRY – BRITISH FANATICS THREATEN HIM”, the Daily Express purported to quote comments made by Mr Bunglawala in his capacity as a spokesman for the MCB. Taken in the context of the article as a whole, those quotes would have been understood to suggest that Mr Bunglawala was a fanatical extremist who was inciting or, at the very least, condoning a terrorist attack upon Prince Harry, and that he considered the Prince to be a fair and legitimate target for terrorists.  

In today’s Statement before Mr Justice Eady, Carter-Ruck Partner Adam Tudor, on behalf of Mr Bunglawala, told the Court that Express Newspapers had accepted that the allegations were false and should never have been published.  In fact, the quote attributed to Mr Bunglawala in the article was incomplete and out of context.  As had been correctly reported in other media, Mr Bunglawala had in fact made clear his wish that Prince Harry should be brought home safely from Afghanistan, out of harm’s way.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Bunglawala said “I am delighted by today’s result. The Express article was sloppily and irresponsibly written, clearly with completely inadequate research and fact-checking. I am pleased that I have been able to vindicate my good name and that the Express has been forced to apologise and pay substantial damages, having treated my initial complaint with contempt and leaving me with no alternative but to sue for libel. My greater concern is that this article reflects a growing and deeply alarming trend towards casual Islamophobia in the British press and I do hope that lessons will be learned by the media, both from my case and others.”