Teacher cleared over coconut placard files complaint

Ms Hussain was acquitted following a two-day trial

A teacher who was prosecuted for holding a placard with Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman surrounded by coconuts at a pro-Palestininan demonstration has issued a serious complaint to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police watchdog.

Solicitors acting on behalf of Marieha Hussain said the case should never have been allowed to reach court and the case had exposed Ms Hussain to "irreparable damage".

The 37-year-old from High Wycombe was acquitted on 13 September of a racially aggravated public order offence.

The CPS said it was carefully considering the complaint while the Met Police said it was being assessed.

Ms Hussain was photographed holding the placard at the demonstration in central London in November last year.

Anonymous accounts on social media called her racist while tabloid newspapers published details of her family and the cost of her parents’ home. Ms Hussain also lost her job as a secondary school teacher.

She has said the placard was not racist, but satirical and humorous.

Ms Hussain's placard featured the former prime minster and home secretary alongside coconuts

During her trial, prosecutor Jonathan Bryan told Westminster Magistrates' Court coconut was a well-known racial slur.

"[It has] a very clear meaning – you may be brown on the outside, but you are white on the inside,” he said.

“In other words, you’re a ‘race traitor’ – you’re less brown or black than you should be.”

But District Judge Vanessa Lloyd ruled the placard was "part of the genre of political satire".

"The prosecution have not proved to the criminal standard that it was abusive," she told the court.

"The prosecution has also not proved to the criminal standard that you were aware that your placard may be abusive."

On Tuesday, law firm Birnberg Peirce said the police and CPS failed "inexcusably in their respective responsibilities, seriously undermined free speech and exposed Ms Hussain to irreparable damage".

The statement added: "The complaints filed on Ms Hussain's behalf raise detailed questions with both organisations - what happened in the police command room on the day of the demonstration?

"What influences were at work in decision-making? What responsibilities were considered or ignored?

"What understanding was ever sought of the context of Ms Hussain's protest and of the use of the symbol itself?"

Ms Hussain pictured on her way to Westminster Magistrates' Court

The CPS' role is to "make fair, independent and objective assessments" about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider.

A CPS spokesperson said: “Our prosecutors reviewed this case carefully and concluded there was enough evidence for it to be presented to a court.

“The defendant was found not guilty and we respect the judge's decision.”

The Met Police said: "We have received a complaint via the Independent Office for Police Conduct, and this is currently being recorded and assessed."