By James Simons-
A former parliamentary aide to George Galloway has been jailed for 12 weeks for contempt of court.
37-year-old Aisha Ali-Khan, was jailed after admitting 26 breaches of undertakings given to the court. Ali -Khan was legally bound by promises she made not to say anything defamatory or derogatory about the ex-MP, or publish any reference to him.
The breaches took place between October 2017 and January 2018, and involved statements published online, particularly on social media.
At London’s High Court on Tuesday, Mr Justice Warby said her offending was so serious, not because of the harm caused, but because it was “deliberate, flagrant, persistent and inexcusable”, and carried out in full understanding of what she was doing.
Further undertakings were given by Ms Ali-Khan in October 2017 relating to any publication or re-publication referring to Mr Galloway.
The judge stated that her biggest mitigation factor was her admission of guilt. He pointed out that she made no attempt to apologise or rectify her serious errors of judgement until it became obvious she would be unable to avoid the contempt proceedings.
COSTS
Ms Khan also faces an order for costs which have yet to be assessed, although the sum claimed is £37,935.
Ms Ali-Khan’s counsel said all of the offending publications had been removed and an apology had been placed on her Twitter page.
The proceedings stem from a claim brought by Ms Ali-Khan against Mr Galloway, which settled in June 2016, with both sides giving undertakings not to make any further public statement about the litigation or defaming the other.
