English journalist sorry for her ‘inappropriate’ twitter comments against a south London mosque

The English journalist and presenter of Channel 4 News, Cathy Newman, has offered apologies for her claims on twitter that she was 'ushered' out of a south London mosque.

Newman made the controversial comments on twitter last week about a visit she made to South London Islamic Center, as part of the 'Visit My Mosque' campaign launched by British Muslim communities.

Newman had tried to enter the mosque, but was turned away since the South London Islamic Center was not part of the campaign program. The mosque's CCTV clips show her entering the mosque, taking off her shoes, and having a brief conversation with the man in the entrance before leaving. CCTV cameras show that she spoke to no one else inside the mosque.

'Well I just visited Streatham mosque for Visit My Mosque day and was surprised to find myself ushered out of the door," Cathy Newman later tweeted from her Twitter account.

'I was respectfully dressed, head covering and no shoes, but a man ushered me back on to the street. I said I was there for Visit My Mosque. But it made no difference,' she commented in another tweet.

After the incident, mosque officials reported that they had recieved a vast amount of online abuse, as well as two telephone death threats. The mosque later reported the incidents to the police.

The British journalist later made comments on twitter saying that her tweets were 'inappropriate'.

Cathy Newman sent four tweets reading:

"I have written to South London Islamic Centre and offered my sincere apologies for tweets sent in haste after I visited there in error"
"I accept my tweets were inappropriate and regret the use of the word "ushered"."
"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."