News Group Newspapers (‘NGN’), publisher of The Sun, has agreed to pay substantial damages, together with legal costs, to actor Qasim Akhtar to settle his High Court libel claim. The settlement was announced in a Statement in Open Court before the High Court in London on Thursday 23 July 2026, where Daniel Taylor of Taylor Hampton appeared on behalf of Mr Akhtar.
Mr Akhtar is best known for playing Zeedan Nazir in ITV’s Coronation Street, and has also appeared in Shameless and Waterloo Road. He brought proceedings against NGN over an article published in The Sun, in print and online, in November last year. The article falsely alleged that Mr Akhtar had backed and teamed up with an Islamic cleric, associated him with extremism, radicalisation and violence, and falsely claimed that he had moved to Pakistan and undertaken firearms training.
Reading the agreed statement, Daniel Taylor told the court that NGN accepted the publication caused serious harm to Mr Akhtar’s reputation and great distress, including harm to his family life and his business, which he was forced to put on hold while the matter was resolved. The libel was compounded by NGN’s acknowledged failure to seek Mr Akhtar’s response to these very serious allegations before publication.
Counsel for NGN told the court that the article should never have been published and that the publisher has undertaken never to repeat the allegations. This follows The Sun’s published apology in May, accepting the allegations were entirely false and confirming that Mr Akhtar has never endorsed or supported any such views and strongly condemns all forms of extremism and violence.
A link to the full Statement in Open Court read today is contained herewith.
Today’s Statement in Open Court has been widely reported in the media, including by the BBC and RTÉ.
If you have been the subject of false and defamatory allegations in the press, please contact our defamation team for a confidential consultation.