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'I just feel I need to live' Innocent in court - but a life term of online hate
The Guardian
|September 30, 2024
When Abdul Hai saw what Tommy Robinson had posted on X, he felt panic rising.
A friend had sent over a screenshot. There was his name, and there - for Robinson's 1 million followers to see - was the false claim that Hai had been convicted of the murder of Richard Everitt, a 15-year-old killed in north London 30 years ago.
"I was never involved with the murder. I was never at the scene. I had no involvement whatsoever," Hai said. "And this wasn't just, 'well, you must have been there' or something. This guy just said I was convicted of this most heinous crime. I was horrified ... And then you see all the comments." Hai - who was acquitted of the murder after a judge threw out the case against him owing to lack of evidence - is now considering legal action against X after he says it failed to remove Robinson's comment for more than three weeks. An X spokesperson said it had "swiftly" removed posts from Robinson "to comply with UK law".
During 16 years as a Labour councillor in Camden, Hai was always open about the murder accusation. But he has now decided to tell the full story of his 30-yearbattle to clear his name.
This story is from the September 30, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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