LONDON – The Daily Mail, a British news publication, has reportedly reachedan out of court settlement worth £1.2 million with a British Pakistani taxilicensing officer Wajid Iqbal after the former accused him of being a fixerfor pedophile taxi drivers.
“Scandal of the mini-cab predators” authored by journalist David Rose waspublished in the Daily Mail on 14 May 2017. The story alleged that WajidIqbal was a part of an international pedophile ring.
Following the devastating effects the story had on the Wajid’s professionaland personal lives, he decided to take Associated Newspaper Limited (ANL),the company that manages Daily Mail, Mail Online, and Mail on Sunday, tocourt.
Defamation law specialist Mark Lewis of Patron Law represented Wajid Iqbalin the defamatory case whose proceedings were set to begin in April 2020 atthe London High Court. However, in November 2019, ANL started negotiatingwith Wajid Iqbal for an out of court settlement.
The clarification published by the Daily Mail on Sunday reads:
The Mail has apologized to a council worker who it wrongly accused ofacting as a ‘fixer’ for cab drivers in Rochdale who were committing crimesagainst young girls.
Read Top Stories
An article on May 14, 2017, published in this newspaper and on the MailOnline website, headlined ‘Scandal of the mini-cab predators’, caused ‘hugeand continuing distress’ to Mr. Iqbal, a council licensing officer.
The Daily Mail also apologized:
These allegations were false. They have caused huge and continuing distressto Wajid Iqbal. Therefore, ANL has agreed to apologize and pay Mr. Iqbalsubstantial damages.
