A man who burned a Koran in London has won an appeal against a conviction which campaigners had criticised as an attempt to bring back blasphemy law.

Hamit Coskun was found guilty earlier this year of a religiously aggravated public order offence having shouted "f*** Islam" while holding the flaming religious text aloft outside the Turkish consulate in England's capital city in February.

But, backed by free speech campaigners, the 51-year-old successfully appealed against the conviction, with a judge finding in his favour at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

Turkey-born Mr Coskun, who is half-Kurdish and half-Armenian, had his legal case funded by the National Secular Society (NSS) and the Free Speech Union (FSU).

His appeal case was also attended this week by Conservative shadow justic

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