Overview
- Lord Justice Warby and Ms Justice Obi dismissed the CPS challenge, saying no material factor was overlooked or wrongly considered.
- The CPS said it will review the judgment, maintaining its case focused on disorderly behaviour rather than blasphemy, while Coskun’s counsel called the appeal unarguable.
- Free Speech Union and National Secular Society welcomed the outcome, with calls for Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson to resign and for a formal review of CPS decisions.
- Coskun was attacked during the February 2025 protest; the assailant, Moussa Kadri, later received a suspended sentence, and Coskun has Home Office accommodation due to threats.
- Conservative frontbenchers Nick Timothy and Chris Philp criticised the prosecution, and a senior US State Department official hailed the decision as a win for free speech.