Sir Michael Parkinson wins libel payout from Daily Mail
Sir Michael Parkinson wins libel payout from Daily Mail
Also In The News
|
Communion Records, out now. |  |
Wednesday, 03, Mar 2010 02:08
Alex Steger
Sir Michael Parkinson had won £25,000 in libel damages after taking legal action over an article published in the Daily Mail.
The article, published in May 2009, entitled Who's Telling Parky's alleged that the broadcaster had lied about his harmonious family life in his autobiography.
Associated Papers, who own the Daily Mail, today apologised in the high court for the allegations made in the article and accepted they were false.
They agreed to pay Parkinson £25,000 in damages as well as his legal costs. The payment will reportedly be donated in full to two charities, the Alexander Devine Children's Cancer Trust and a school for orphans in South Africa.
The article made a series of allegations which included that Parkinson had acted in a "grossly insensitive" way toward his uncle, Bernard Parkinson, and that he intentionally lied about his family life and father in his autobiography to charm readers.
Parkinson said in a statement: "The article was both distressing and as inaccurate as it was damaging. As a journalist myself, I have been reluctant to take legal action against any newspaper. Where defamatory allegations have been published about me, I have always until now turned a blind eye.
"However, I decided that the Daily Mail had crossed a line by a long way, especially as they knew my views on my father and my family, having serialised my autobiography in September 2008, a serialisation which commenced with a detailed description of my love for my father and the inspiration he gave me. The Daily Mail has now accepted that none of the allegations complained of are true, as recorded in the statement in open court."