ANYONE reading the bizarre chain of events which has led to Liverpool teacher Gillian Gibbons facing 40 lashes in Sudan will realise that she is the victim of an entirely innocent mistake.

Ms Gibbons, who was teaching primary-age children at the Unity High School, in Khartoum, at the time of her arrest, apparently allowed her class of seven-year-olds to name a teddy bear Mohammed, as part of a lesson about animals’ habitats.

Even though the children chose the name because it is very common in their country, it is seen as an insult to Islam to attempt to make an image of the Prophet Mohammed.

The schoolteacher was subsequently arrested on suspicion of blasphemy and remains in a prison cell, facing a penalty of either 40 lashes, a large fine or a jail term. The news has shocked her former colleagues and neighbours in Aigburth, who say Ms Gibbons would not have insulted the religion deliberately.

Yet, however obvious it may seem to us that this was an entirely unintentional, well-meaning mistake, it appears in a very different light to the Sudanese.

Several parents made complaints to Sudan’s Ministry of Education, while a source close to the school said one teach- er was angered by the naming of the ted- dy bear and complained to the headmistress.

We are well used to the extreme sensitivities of Muslims to any perceived insult to their religion. Cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed printed in several European newspapers sparked violent protests around the world in 2006, while – going further back – renowned author Salman Rushdie was forced into hiding for many years after a death sentence was pronounced on him following publication of his novel, The Satanic Verses, which was deemed blasphemous.

Yet there is a world of difference between deliberately provoking a reaction, and making an innocent mistake, as Ms Gibbons has done. It is to be hoped she will be freed, unharmed, as quickly as possible.