The Syrian refugee who was allegedly ‘waterboarded’ by a school bully is taking legal action against Facebook over claims he attacked English girls.
Lawyers acting for 16-year-old Jamal are preparing to sue the internet giant for allowing English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson to peddle false accusations about him on its site.
In a highly unusual case, Facebook stands accused of allowing Robinson to make a series of poisonous rants about Jamal because the far-Right activist’s popularity makes the company money. The boy’s legal team says the social media company was ‘fully aware of the reckless and pernicious nature’ of Robinson’s videos and has ‘profited from defamation’.
Syrian refugee Jamal, 16, was 'waterboarded' by a school bully and is now set to take legal action against Facebook
They have also launched legal proceedings against Robinson for falsely claiming that Jamal attacked three girls and a boy.
Two months ago, shocking footage emerged of Jamal being headbutted and dragged to the ground by the neck before his attacker threatens ‘to drown him’ by pouring a bottle of water over his face as fellow pupils at Almondbury Community School, just outside Huddersfield, cheer.
Theresa May said she was horrified by the callous attack on the refugee who had sought sanctuary from the horrors of war-torn Syria. But Robinson, who was made a political adviser to Ukip days earlier, poured scorn on the sympathy shown to Jamal.
Just hours after the video of the attack spread across the internet, Robinson claimed Jamal, then 15, was ‘not innocent’ and had previously terrorised other classmates.
In one Facebook video, Robinson, 36, said: ‘A young girl was beaten badly by Muslim girls. While those Muslim girls were beating her up, Jamal was involved in kicking and biting her. She was bitten, she was black and blue.’
He added: ‘He’s not innocent and he violently attacks young English girls at school. He beat the s*** out of an English kid.’
In the disturbing footage, the attacker threatens ‘to drown him’ by pouring a bottle of water over his face as fellow pupils at Almondbury Community School, just outside Huddersfield, cheer
Robinson
