Judge rules burning a Koran outside Turkish consulate "upsetting... but not a crime"
Hamit Coskun has had his conviction for a religiously aggravated public order offence overturned
A man who burned a Koran in London has won an appeal against his conviction.
Campaigners had criticised it as an attempt to bring back blasphemy law.
Hamit Coskun was found guilty earlier this year of a religiously aggravated public order offence having shouted "f*** Islam" while holding the flaming religious text aloft outside the Turkish consulate in England's capital city in February.
But, backed by free speech campaigners, the 51-year-old successfully appealed against the conviction, with a judge finding in his favour at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.
Turkey-born Mr Coskun, who is half-Kurdish and half-Armenian and lives in England, had his legal case funded by the National Secular Society (NSS) and the Free Speech Union (FSU).
His appeal case was also attended this week by Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick who said while he did not agree with what Mr Coskun had done: "I don't believe it's a crime".
Mr Jenrick and other campaigners had argued the prosecution and conviction was akin to blasphemy being reintroduced "by the back door, inadvertently, by our court service".
Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and in Scotland in 2021.
The Humanists UK charity said it is "delighted and relieved" after Hamit Coskun saw his conviction for burning a Koran overturned on appeal.
A judge sitting at Westminster Magistrates Court in June had originally found Mr Coskun's actions were motivated at least in part by hostility towards Muslims due to prejudicial comments he made in his police interview.
Reaction from Humanists UK
A Humanists UK spokesperson said: "We are delighted and relieved to see Hamit's conviction overturned.
"While we do not agree with the appellant's prejudicial views about Muslims, he did not express these at the time of the act for which he was previously charged and the judge has now found he shouldn't have been convicted.
"We are concerned that this case has highlighted gaps in the law that could allow vital free speech protections to fall by the wayside.
"We will continue to campaign to uphold the fullest freedom of expression laws limited only to prevent harm to others."