New Delhi: A UK High Court on 5 August delivered a scathing verdict against British Muslim preacher and YouTube influencer Mohammed Hijab (born Mohammed Hegab), holding him responsible for inflaming tensions and exacerbating violence against Leicester’s Hindu community during the 2022 unrest.
In Mohammed Hegab v The Spectator Limited & Anor, Justice Johnson upheld The Spectator magazine and columnist Douglas Murray’s portrayal of Hijab as a “street agitator” whose rhetoric worsened an already volatile situation.
The court dismissed Hijab’s defamation and data protection claims, ruling that the reporting was substantially true.
The Leicester unrest, which stretched from May to September 2022, marked one of the worst communal flare-ups in the city’s recent history. According to court documents, matters escalated after India’s cricket victory over Pakistan on 28 August. Celebrations by some Hindu fans, as alleged by Hegab, included provocative chants, though police found no proof of alleged anti-Muslim slogans. On 17 September, hundreds of Hindu and Muslim men clashed, throwing bottles and carrying weapons. Some Hindus chanted “Jai Shree Ram,” while Muslim groups retaliated by burning a Hindu flag. As per the judgment, for the Hindu community in Leicester, the unrest brought property damage, street violence, and fear.
The court stated that an anonymous social media personality, “CVB” (protected by a court order), was found to have amplified unverified claims portraying Hindus as aggressors. Posts on 29 August accused “Hindutva cowards” of attacks and anti-Muslim chants—claims police later found unsubstantiated. On 9 September, CVB alleged a Muslim youth was assaulted by “2 Hindu guys” and urged vigilance. On 18 September, CVB claimed “Hindutva thugs” marched with knives and stabbed Muslims, again without credible evidence.
Hijab, with a large online following, arrived in Leicester on 18 September, the day after major clashes. The court found he led a “Muslim patrol” through the city and addressed a crowd of mostly masked men. In that speech—captured on video—he mocked Hindu reincarnation beliefs, saying:
“If they believe in reincarnation, what a humiliation and pathetic thing for them to be reincarnated into some pathetic, weak, cowardly people like that. I’d rather be an animal. I’d rather be reincarnated as a grasshopper.”
Hijab claimed his target was “Hindutva,” an extremist ideology, not Hinduism. The court rejected this defence as “nonsensical,” ruling that his remarks ridiculed the religion itself and were aimed at rallying hostility against Hindu men.
Murray’s article also cited earlier incidents involving Hijab to establish a pattern. These included a 2021 anti-Israel rally in London where he threatened to “kill dogs” brought by alleged “Zionists” and spoke of “vengeance”; a visit to Jewish-majority Golders Green with fellow YouTuber Ali Dawah, where they confronted locals about Palestine; and the use of a van displaying Holocaust references and other offensive imagery. The court deemed this history relevant in showing that Hijab cultivated a provocative public persona, even selling t-shirts branding himself the “instigator in chief.”
The hearing examined a 3,000-page evidence bundle, 45 hours of video, and extensive social media records. Justice Johnson concluded that Hijab’s actions in Leicester, combined with CVB’s online activity, contributed significantly to Hindu fears, deepened community divisions, and led to physical attacks and property damage.
