Home Correspondent
Britain First’s leader and former deputy leader settled a lawsuit for “substantial damages” on September 28 after they falsely claimed the Halal Food Authority (HFA) and two of its employees funded terrorism.
Paul Golding, 39, and his then deputy Jayda Fransen, 35, made the false claims in two videos published for their followers on various social media platforms in February 2017.
They made similar “wholly untrue and defamatory” allegations about Salahudeen Kara, a former Auditor and Technical manager for the HFA, and Tanveer Parkar, who was the head of Development and Customer Relations.
Both men and the HFA sued Golding and Fransen for libel and breach of the Data Protection Act, and the case was settled after the Britain First leaders agreed to pay damages.
The videos, which have since been removed from websites, alleged involvement in the clandestine funding of terrorist organisations such as ISIS.
“This caused real distress for Mr Kara and Mr Parkar, both of whom feared for their safety as a result of the publication of the videos to a very substantial number of the defendants’ followers,” said Ben Gallop, representing the HFA, Kara and Parkar during a hearing at the High Court in London.
“This incident had a detrimental impact on their personal lives, and their integrity was questioned by family and members of the wider community.”
Gallop said Golding and Fransen offered no defence to the claim, but agreed to pay an undisclosed sum and not to repeat their false allegations.
“There was never any basis for the defendants’ allegations, and their unequivocal capitulation in the face of the claimants’ claim puts that beyond doubt,” he said.
“Mr Kara and Mr Parkar have been vindicated and have achieved all of their objectives in bringing the claim.”
Last year, Goldin was convicted of an offence under the Terrorism Act after he refused to give pin codes for an iPhone and Apple computer to police officers in 2019 when he was stopped at Heathrow Airport on his return from Moscow.In 2018, he and Fransen were convicted of religiously aggravated harassment. Golding was jailed for 18 weeks and Fransen for 36 weeks.
