The police have issued an apology and awarded a Christian evangelist £10,000 and costs after two wrongful arrests. 

Hatun Tash was arrested at Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park in May 2021 after engaging in a heated debate with a group of Muslim men while wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Muhammad on it.

Shocking video footage shows Miss Tash surrounded by a large crowd and being intimidated in front of officers. 

One man can be heard telling police to "go away" when ordered by officers to leave the park. 

Miss Tash was told that she would be arrested if she argued with the police. 

She was then arrested for breach of the peace and forced out of the park by police. No action was taken by officers against the Muslim men. 

Miss Tash was held in police custody for 24 hours and interviewed under caution before being released when police decided to take no further action. 

The year before, Miss Tash was arrested at Speakers' Corner in December 2020 under Covid regulations.

Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Miss Tash challenged the arrests, with her lawyers arguing that police should have done more to protect her free speech. 

"Just because it was believed that it was operationally necessary to arrest our client, that is not what should have happened," they said. 

"The police should have protected her free speech by bringing more officers to Speakers Corner to facilitate her rights. It follows that her safety would have been protected."

The police have now apologised for both arrests. 

In a letter to Miss Tash, Insp Andy O'Donnell, Directorate of Professional Standards at the Civil Actions Investigation Unit, admitted that the actions of the police did not meet Met standards.

"Whilst the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] constantly strives to maintain the highest professional standards, incidents occasionally arise when the level of service falls below that standard," he said. 

"I have considered the background to your claim and am satisfied that on these occasions the level of service did fall below the requisite standard.

"I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to you for the distress that you have suffered as a consequence of these incidents.

"I hope that settlement of this claim and this recognition of the impact of what happened will enable you to put these incidents behind you."

Miss Tash has donated the pay-out to the Christian Legal Centre. She said the apology must be "just the beginning" of the police doing more to protect Christian freedoms and free speech at Speakers' Corner.

"l am very concerned by the approach the police has been taking at Speakers' Corner. The police have repeatedly taken away my rights and told me that they cannot protect me because they do not want to offend a certain group of people, which has been very disturbing," she said. 

"I believe Jesus Christ is the good news for Muslims, the police and the world. Police need to protect my rights as l tell others this good news. My hope is that many Muslims will come to faith in Jesus." 

In July 2021, Miss Tash was stabbed in front of police at Speakers' Corner by a man in a black Islamic robe in broad day light. No arrest has ever been made.

She said that "more must be done to properly deal with Islamic violence and intimidation" at Speakers' Corner.

"We don't live in Pakistan; we don't live in Saudi Arabia. I am Christian and by default I believe that Muhammad is a false prophet. I should be allowed to say that in the UK without being stabbed or repeatedly arrested," she said. 

"Police inaction and fear has led to mobs being encouraged to silence, threaten and to even try to kill me. It is heart-breaking that we live in a society where police do not want to arrest a Muslim for fear of being called Islamophobic.

"The police have seen it as easier to remove me than deal with people intimidating and threatening me. By doing this, Sharia Law is ruling Speakers' Corner rather than the law of the UK."

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: "This pay-out to Hatun is a rare admission by the police that they got it wrong.

"Hatun is well known at Speakers' Corner' yet it is she that has been repeatedly silenced or removed by the police because she challenges the religious ideology of Islam.

"Not satisfied with hounding her out of Speakers' Corner an attempt has been made on her life for which there has still been no arrest.

"Hatun is a fearless and passionate woman who loves Jesus and who has love and compassion for people from all backgrounds who she debates with and wants to reach with the gospel, which has transformed her life.

"If Hatun is silenced by violence at Speakers' Corner, we are all silenced."