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Now, following an appeal backed by the National Secular Society and the Free Speech Union, the High Court has ruled that his protest did not break the law.
Mr Justice Bennathan’s judgment could not be clearer: “There is no offence of blasphemy in our law. Burning a Koran may be an act that many Muslims find desperately upsetting and offensive. The criminal law, however, is not a mechanism that seeks to avoid people being upset, even grievously upset. The right to freedom of expression, if it is a right worth having, must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb.”
Stephen Evans, National Secular Society, 13th October 2025.