Media Law: Recent Work Archive: 2007

The Sunday Express has apologised to Ken Bates, Chairman of Leeds United Football Club, for wrongly implying that Leeds United 2007 Ltd, the company which now owns and operates Leeds United, is in financial difficulties. The company is in fact debt free and trading profitably.

The Daily Mirror has apologised to Mr Abdul Hadi Awang, a well-known Malaysian politician and an eminent Muslim scholar, over false allegations that he was, among other things, the Al Qaeda "number 3" and that he was being held in Guantanamo Bay. As well as apologising in full, the Mirror has paid Mr Hadi Awang substantial libel damages.

Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, has upheld a complaint brought against the BBC by Monica Calvert in relation to the BBC1 investigative programme, "Old Dogs, New Tricks" hosted by Lynn Faulds-Wood and Esther Rantzen. In an important ruling, Ofcom concluded, among other things, that Lynn Faulds Wood's 'door-stepping' of Mrs Calvert was an unwarranted infringement of her privacy. It has ordered the BBC to broadcast a summary of the decision.

Canadian singer/composer Loreena McKennitt has settled her long-running privacy actions against Niema Ash, her former employee.

On 4 October 2007, Random House apologised to boxing promoter Frank Warren in open court over a defamatory allegation published in "Ricky Hatton: The Hitman, My Story".

The publisher has accepted that Mr Warren did not mislead the boxer Vince Phillips about the sale of the television rights for his fight against Ricky Hatton, and apologised in open court for including this allegation in the book.  It has withdrawn the book from sale.

Mr Warren is also suing Random House over two other allegations in the same book. 

Frank Warren has won his libel action against the Daily Record.  The newspaper apologised to Mr Warren in open court on 4 October 2007 and has agreed not to republish the allegations and to pay him damages of £30,000.

On 5 August 2007 The People published a full apology to Chelsea Football Club, in respect of allegations that the club and its players, in particular John Terry, Frank Lampard and Arjen Robben, dressed and behaved inappropriately during their stay at the Beverley Hills Hotel. The newspaper accepted that the allegations were untrue and published a prompt apology.

Sir Simon Milton, the Leader of Westminster Council, has secured a full apology from Private Eye in respect of false allegations that he was under investigation by the District Auditor following the Council's settlement with Dame Shirley Porter over the 'homes for votes' scandal.

In April 2007, Sir Simon also secured a full apology and damages from the Oldie magazine (co-founded by Richard Ingrams, the former editor of Private Eye) in respect of similar allegations.

Martyn Jones, Labour MP for Clwyd South, has won his libel action against the Mail on Sunday in respect of two articles published in May 2006. The action went to trial on 11 June and the jury awarded Mr Jones £5,000 in damages. The Mail on Sunday was also injuncted from republishing the allegations complained of.

Former world heavyweight-boxing champion Frank Bruno has settled his privacy action against the News of the World in return for substantial damages.

The Daily Telegraph has published a full apology to Seán Doran (the former Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the English National Opera) and his wife Ruby Philogene (the Mezzo-Soprano and former winner of the Kathleen Ferrier award), over allegations which were published in Celia Walden's 'Spy' column on 29 November 2005.

Amjad Sarwar has won very substantial libel damages following the settlement of complaints made against a number of national newspapers as well as Sky News, ITN and Channel 4 news. The newspapers and broadcasters had falsely alleged that Mr Sarwar was a suspect in the alleged plots to blow up a number of British aircraft using "liquid bombs" in the summer of 2006, in what would have been the worst terrorist atrocity in British history. The newspapers all published apologies to Mr Sarwar, and full apologies have been broadcast on the ITV national and local news, Channel 4 and More 4 news as well as Sky news.

Jade Goody has won damages of £15,000 and an apology from The People after it published on 22 April 2007 an inaccurate front page story that she was contemplating suicide.

On 29 April, the newspaper published an apology confirming that the information was wrong and that the quotations were not attributable to Ms Goody.

The complaint relied on the landmark Court of Appeal authority in McKennitt v Ash,  which made clear that actions for invasion of privacy did not depend on the truth of the information published.

Lady Falkender (who as Marcia Williams was Prime Minister Harold Wilson's personal and political secretary) has won £75,000 in libel damages from the BBC following last year's docu-drama the Lavender List. The BBC has also apologised to Lady Falkender and undertaken that the offending programme will never be broadcast again.

Sir Martin Sorrell has won his action for libel and invasion of privacy in respect of a defamatory blog and a highly offensive jpeg. The cases settled 10 days into trial with Sir Martin Sorrell receiving the sum of £120,000 in damages and his co-Claimant in the privacy action, Daniela Weber, the sum of £30,000 for invasion of privacy.

The House of Lords has refused the Defendant's application for leave to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision in the case of McKennitt v Ash. In December last year the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the decision of the trial Judge, Mr Justice Eady, and the House of Lords has concluded that there is no basis for this decision to be considered any further. This is a significant decision concerning the extent to which the Court will protect the privacy of celebrities.

Kevin Smith has won his libel action against Take a Break magazine (published by H. Bauer). The magazine published a front page story and double page article containing false allegations about Mr Smith’s private life, as well as photographs of him and his long term partner.

The magazine published an apology and personally admitted to Mr Smith that "the story had been fabricated in its entirety". It also agreed to pay Mr Smith substantial damages.

Kim Knott, a professional portrait photographer, has won his libel action against leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The newspaper published a fulsome correction and apology in its UK and Italian editions and has paid Mr Knott damages.

Koo Stark has received an apology from Zoo magazine and its editor, Anthony Noguera, after the magazine falsely described her as a porn star.  Ms Stark also received a substantial sum in damages.

Lord Durham has settled his complaint in respect of material published in the Sunday Times Review. The matter was settled with a correction, apology and payment of damages.

Lesley Sanderson, a contestant in the Channel 4 series Big Brother in 2005 was successful in her libel claim against Express Newspapers Limited. Two articles published in the Daily Star Sunday made highly defamatory allegations of sexual impropriety against Ms Sanderson. Express Newspapers accept that the allegations are untrue and have apologised to Ms Sanderson. Express Newspapers have paid Ms Sanderson substantial damages.

Leeds United successfully discharged an injunction obtained without notice the previous afternoon, which enabled the club to distribute and sell its Match Day Programme for the match taking place that afternoon.

On 31 January 2007, The Daily Express published a full apology to Georgian businessman, Badri Patarkatsishvili, in respect of allegations reported to have been made against him by a Brazilian prosecutor. The newspaper accepted there was no foundation to the allegations and, as a mark of its regret, agreed to make a donation to Mr Patarkatsishvili's charity in Georgia.

Shilpa Shetty, this year's winner of Celebrity Big Brother, has instructed Carter-Ruck to advise her on her dealings with the British media.

On 17 January, Mark Stickland, a rock band tour manager, was awarded £40,000 in damages by the unanimous verdict of a jury which found that he had been libelled in a January 2006 article in Kerrang! magazine. Mr Justice Tugendhat also granted Mr Stickland an injunction to restrain further publication of the allegations by the magazine.