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August 24, 2006updated 22 Nov 2022 8:47pm

Media faces huge payout after falsely branding woman a terrorist

By Press Gazette

ITV News, News International, Associated Newspapers and Mirror Group are all facing the prospect of huge libel payouts after wrongly identifying a woman as a terrorist suspect.

Koser Zaman has engaged David Price solicitors and already won apologies from several newspapers and ITV news.

Zaman was wrongly identified as the woman who was arrested and held with her six-month-old baby on suspicion of being involved in last week’s alleged terror plot against airliners.

Her solicitors said in a statement issued along with a photo: “Regrettably various media outlets obtained and published photographs of our client in connection with this story. Many used the above photograph. Our client has had nothing whatsoever to do with any terrorist activities and has not been held by police.

“Miss Zaman is a British Citizen and currently works at the City of London Borough Council. She is a resident of Walthamstow and attended Walthamstow Girls’ School where it has been alleged that the woman arrested also attended.

“Our client has been extremely distressed by the widespread erroneous use of her photograph in connection with such allegations. She instructed us to take legal action against each of the media organisations and each has now agreed to publish apologies to her.”

In June, 2005, the Sunday Mirror paid out £100,000 to a man it falsely identified as “Lotto rapist” Iorworth Hoare. If successful, Zaman could claim damages of a similar order.

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