A Lamborghini-driving lawyer who ran for the West Midlands mayoralty is at the centre of a row over a ‘deep-fake’ video which led to a viral hate campaign against an innocent teacher.
The video, taken on a doorbell camera, used subtitles to suggest the woman had used a racial slur while canvassing for Labour.
It was shared by Akhmed Yakoob, the independent candidate who came third in last Thursday’s vote, to his 194,000 TikTok followers.
Labour said it had employed an external digital forensics company, which found evidence that the video had been manipulated.
West Midlands Police yesterday said officers had examined the original footage and concluded no offensive words were uttered.
Lawyer Akhmed Yakoob stands in front of his yellow Lamborghini with its personalised number plate
The video shows the woman asking the person who lived at this house whether they voted for Labour
The resident responds by saying that they voted for Akhmed Yakoob, to which the woman replies: ‘No problem, thank you’
The teacher at a secondary school in Walsall, who is in her 20s, said she had suffered a 48-hour ‘nightmare’, including death threats, since the video went viral on Monday.
She said she had ‘been unable to stop shaking’ and told BirminghamLive: ‘It’s brought my whole world crashing down.
‘All my life, I have been known as a polite, well-mannered, helpful good person and always had a very good reputation and that was blown up by one false allegation.’
She declined to comment further when contacted by the Mail. Mr Yakoob won almost 70,000 votes as an independent who campaigned on a pro-Palestine ticket. Tory incumbent Andy Street lost to Labour’s Richard Parker by just 1,508 votes.
Mr Yakoob, a criminal lawyer and a director at Maurice Andrews Solicitors in Birmingham, was endorsed by Workers’ Party of Britain leader George Galloway. He now intends to stand in Birmingham’s Ladywood constituency, which is held by Labour MP Shabana Mahmood.
Mr Yakoob posted the teacher’s name and the name of her school, with others joining in to share her phone number and email address. An email to the school demanding her sacking was also circulated online, with the school at one point receiving 100 emails an hour about the teacher’s alleged conduct.
Mr Yakoob, said he has ‘deleted the post from all my social media’, but denied being culpable for the teacher being ‘outed’ as a racist.
He said: ‘I have not made any such claims and would like to see the findings made (by the Labour Party and West Midlands Police) and will not make any further comment.’ His campaign team did not return requests for comment last night.
A look at Akhmed Yakoob’s campaign leaflet where Workers’ Party of Britain leader George Galloway can be seen endorsing him
Independent candidate Mr Yakoob poses for a photograph as votes are counted ahead of the declaration for West Midlands Mayor
The woman (blurred), who is a teacher in her 20s, has said her ‘whole world’ has been brought ‘crashing down’ as a result of the ‘deep fake’ video
The teacher is understood to have volunteered as a canvasser to help a friend, Qasim Mughal, who was with her at the time of the incident and who was subsequently elected as a councillor in Dudley.
She is not a Labour Party member and was unaware of the other candidates running for election. Mr Mughal said he was within earshot of the doorstep exchange and knew his friend was innocent.
Labour said: ‘Manipulated digital assets pose a threat to the community cohesion we work hard to foster, as well as to the integrity of the democratic process. It is disappointing and irresponsible for an unsuccessful candidate in a recent election to share a manipulated digital asset in an attempt to undermine a successful Labour campaign.’
West Midlands Police said: ‘Following allegations of a racist remark made by a canvasser in Dudley captured on doorbell footage… we have found no evidence of any racist slurs or language used.
‘The canvasser has received significant abuse as a result of the footage being released on social media, which is distressing. She has been fully updated regarding our findings and offered our support.’
