"I am still numb, it has been a nightmare."
A teacher said her “life has been blown apart” after a video falsely accusing her of racism went viral.
She said her “whole world came crashing down” when failed West Midlands mayor candidate Akhmed Yakoob circulated the doorbell footage to his social media followers.
The woman has been bombarded with hate mail and threats as a result of a fake claim that she had used racist language.
Her school, Stuart Bathurst Catholic High School in Wednesbury, also received calls and messages after her name, email, picture and social media accounts were shared in the online onslaught.
The police are investigating.
After the doorbell footage went viral, Mr Yakoob, who identified the teacher and her school, has now claimed he had “not intended” for her to receive hate.
He said he had not been alone in thinking she had made racist comments.
Mr Yakoob said it was “difficult to hear” and said he would delete the video if the racism claims were proven false. However, the video remains on his profile.
The woman was supporting her friend and new Dudley councillor Qasim Mughal when the alleged exchange occurred at the centre of the video.
He heard the entire exchange and said the incident was testimony to the huge damage that could be caused online.
Mr Mughal said: “My friend is the innocent victim of something horrific, and it shows how quickly fake news spreads.
“The video insinuates she says those words and people lapped it up.”
The teacher said: “It was a really thoughtless, selfish thing to do, and it has been heartbreaking for me to go through this. I am still numb, it has been a nightmare.
“I have been unable to stop shaking, constantly on edge, it’s brought my whole world crashing down.
“It is not only detrimental to my career as a teacher but also to my identity.
“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.”
Among the messages, the teacher has received death threats, told she is a dirty racist b**** and warned to “watch what happens”.
She added: “I have had family and friends supporting me thankfully, and parents of pupils and my colleagues who know this is not something I would ever do have been amazing.
“I have a close relationship with them so it has been a relief seeing them make contact and sending me messages.
“I cannot thank the school enough for their support.
“I hope the people who posted this and pushed this false allegation never experience this for their own children and families. I hope they realise that their words and actions can impact someone’s life forever.”
Mr Yakoob, who stood as an Independent in the West Midlands mayoral elections, shared the video, which featured a supposed transcript of what was said.
In the video, he told people to “make their own minds up” about what was being said.
Mr Yakoob also pointed viewers to footage overlain with the purported racist words and hashtags alleging Labour is racist.
The teacher was out delivering leaflets on behalf of Mr Mughal in the Netherton and Holly Hall ward on May 2, 2024.
Text in the video claimed the teacher said “p****” but she actually said “I couldn’t understand” and then the number “90” to her colleague.
Mr Mughal said: “I am absolutely livid and upset that this has happened to my friend, who is the sweetest, nicest person and a wonderful caring teacher.
“She was out supporting me, her friend, a Pakistani, for starters, and would never ever say or think what she has been accused of.”
“These people have spread this vicious lie to try to make a political point, alleging that the Labour Party is ‘racist’, without a care for the impact on my friend. She has been devastated.”
After receiving hate messages, the woman alerted Mr Mughal and her school.
In a bid to draw a line over the affair, the school posted a message on social media saying they were aware of the video and would be looking into it.
Mr Mughal said: “It was my first political campaign and on polling day I roped in a couple of friends after work to come and help me do a final door-knocking session.
“It was to gather data to see how we had done.
“My friend had not done anything like this before, she is not political, or a member of a party, but wanted to give me moral support and she believed I deserved support.
“She had a script to follow that asked people if they had voted, and if so who for, and to then note this down, along with the house number. I was alongside.”
This video was captured in the West Midlands, a Labour campaigner racially abuses a voter after they said they had voted for @Akhmedyakoob1
Labour should expel this person from their party immediately!
Disgraceful bigoted behaviour ?pic.twitter.com/AgSCaZPX2r
— Newham Independents ??? (@NewhamIndParty) May 6, 2024
Mr Mughal explained what happened during the exchange.
Teacher: “You voted for Labour lovely?”
Resident: “Nah man.”
Teacher: “Who did you vote for?”
Resident: “Akhmed Yakoob.”
Teacher: “No problem, thank you.”
After walking away, her colleague asked:
“Who did they vote for?”
She replied: “I couldn’t understand…Ninety…”
The recording then cut out. The last number refers to the house number and was incomplete.
The video was used to instigate a claim that the Labour Party was “racist”.
A party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party has a zero tolerance approach to all forms of racism…we immediately began investigating this allegation.”
They said the video was “manipulated” with the addition of the transcript.
“It is disappointing and irresponsible for an unsuccessful candidate in a recent election to share a manipulated digital asset in an attempt to undermine…Labour.”
It is understood that the Labour Party had the audio analysed by an external digital forensics company, which provided evidence to conclude the video’s subtitles were incorrect and the alleged racist language was not used.
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