Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, has criticised several Muslim community stations after they allowed Islamic extremists to issue hate speech – in one case – calling for the murder and torture of gay people.

Ofcom found the stations broke the broadcasting code by allowing the extreme opinions to be aired unchallenged.

Among the shows criticised was one broadcast by Birmingham-based Peace TV, co-owned by Dr Zakir Naik, who was banned from entering Britain in 2010.

It broadcast the phrase: “One group of scholars, they say that if a Muslim, if he becomes a non-Muslim he should be put to death.”

On Monday, an Ofcom spokesman said: “The majority of Islamic channels comply with our rules.

However, where we identify issues through our monitoring or complaints we investigate fully and take firm enforcement action.”

Last December, Radio Asian Fever, in Leeds, was fined £4,000 for breaching broadcasting rules in programmes involving a presenter called ‘Sister Ruby Ramadan’.

She told listeners that gay people should be beaten and tortured, adding: “Torture them; punish them; beat them and give them mental torture.”

A previous version of this story was incorrect. The Islam Channel should not have been linked to the issue of homophobic hate speech in this article, and the Islam Channel would like to point out that none of its presenters have ever aired offensive views about gay people.

PinkNews.co.uk sincerely apologies for any offence caused.