Walsall teacher 'forced into hiding' over fake racist slur video wins substantial damages
A teacher has spoken of how she was forced into hiding after a fake video falsely claiming she used a racist slur while canvassing for Labour went viral on the internet.
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PE teacher Cheryl Bennett, of Wednesbury's Stuart Bathurst Catholic High School, has been paid substantial damages after the fake clip taken when she was canvassing for Labour as a favour for a colleague was viewed millions of times.
Her name and place of work was also shared online attracting a torrent of abuse and even death threats.
The manipulated doorbell footage, overlain with subtitles showing the alleged words, was shared by solicitor Akhmed Yakoob, who was standing as an independent candidate in the West Midlands mayoral election at the time.
Mr Yakoob later shared the information to his 800,000 followers which resulted in her receiving death threats and a barrage of hate.
He has since apologised stating the footage had been sent to his campaign team and that it was a "set up".
