Free speech advocate peer Lord Young hailed a “huge victory” after the conviction of a man for burning a Koran outside the Turkish consulate was overturned by a superior court on Friday.

Criminal law does not exist to “avoid people being upset, even grievously upset” and freedom of expression is a right that includes the right to “views that offend, shock or disturb”, a British court ruled on Friday .

The forthright judgement from judge Mr Justice Bennathan at the Crown Court came as he overturned the conviction under the Public Order Act of Hamit Coskun in July for a protest staged in London outside the Turkish consulate where he set fire to a Qur’an.

The incident was less remarkable for the act of the burning, which has become a symbol of protest seen across Europe, but rather for t

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