Cathy Newman apologises and quits Twitter over 'inappropriate' claims she was made to leave London mosque

The Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman has said she will be “taking a break” from Twitter and issued a full apology after she caused outrage by tweeting that she was “ushered out” of a London mosque.

The journalist and broadcaster went into the South London Islamic Centre on “Visit My Mosque Day” last month, but implied on social media that she was made to leave despite explaining why she was there.

Officials from the mosque have since claimed that the incident was a mix-up rather than sexism – and video footage later showed that Newman only entered very briefly before a man near the doorway seemingly pointed her to the church up the street, after which she left on her own.

Newman wrote today on Twitter that she “deeply regrets that this happened”, and said she had written to the mosque to offer it her “sincere apologies” after visiting it in error and for tweets “sent in haste”.

I accept my tweets were inappropriate and regret the use of the word ‘ushered’,” she said.

“My language was poorly chosen and has caused a great deal of offence. I deeply regret that this happened. I shall now be taking a break from Twitter.”

Newman had previously responded to the outrage over the incident by saying she was “horrified to hear the mosque I visited in error has had death threats”. She did not retract the “ushered” tweets then, but said she was “sorry for any misunderstanding there has been”.