A FORMER parliamentary aide to George Galloway has been jailed for 12 weeks for contempt of court.

Aisha Ali-Khan, 37, admitted 26 breaches of undertakings given to the court in which she promised not to say anything defamatory or derogatory about the ex-MP or publish any reference to him.

The breaches, which took place between October 2017 and January 2018, involved statements published online, principally social media.

At London's High Court today, Mr Justice Warby said her offending was so serious, not because of the harm caused, but because it was "deliberate, flagrant, persistent and inexcusable" and carried out in full understanding of what she was doing.

He told Ms Ali-Khan, who has been guilty of contempt previously, that she must serve half of the sentence in custody with the remaining period spent on licence.

She also faces an order for costs which have yet to be assessed, although the sum claimed is £37,935.

Ms Ali-Khan's counsel said all of the offending publications had been removed and an apology had been placed on her Twitter page.

The proceedings stem from a claim brought by Ms Ali-Khan against Mr Galloway, which settled in June 2016, with both sides giving undertakings not to make any further public statement about the litigation or defaming the other.

Further undertakings were given by Ms Ali-Khan in October 2017 relating to any publication or re-publication referring to Mr Galloway.

The judge said the most significant mitigation was her admission of guilt, but she made no attempt to apologise or put things right until it became obvious she would be unable to avoid the contempt proceedings.

Mr Galloway, who was the Respect MP for Bradford West from 2012 to 2015, was not in court for the hearing.