The father of comedian Jimmy Carr has reached an out-of-court libel settlement with the Evening Standard and successfully demanded a transcript of an interview between his son and a Standard journalist.
Jim Carr Senior told Press Gazette that he wanted the transcript of the taped interview by reporter Bruce Dessau in case he decided to sue his son personally over the comments he made.
It is the third time this year that Carr Senior has sought libel damages — all over comments made in interviews to journalists given by his estranged son.
Earlier this year, Carr reached a £12,000 out-of-court settlement with The Sunday Telegraph after the comedian alleged in an interview that his father had been a bad parent. He then won a further £5,000 after the contentious article was left on the Telegraph website.
This latest action stems from an article which appeared in the Evening Standard in 2004. Although the time limit for libel actions is generally one year, Carr was able to sue because the article remained on the Standard website — www.thisislondon.co.uk.
Carr Senior received undisclosed damages, costs, a printed apology and a transcript of the interview.
He told Press Gazette: "I don't enjoy suing newspapers, but when my son lies about me to newspapers, I am left with little choice. Everybody involved pays damages or apologises, except my son. If I ever wanted to go after him directly, I now have the transcript of what he said."
Last week, Carr Senior won an apology from the Metropolitan Police after his arrest on false charges of harassment which stemmed from complaints made by his sons Jimmy and Colin. He was cleared in December 2004.
On Saturday, Evening Standard sister paper, the Daily Mail, published a double- page spread detailing the "savage family feud" between Carr and his sons.
Carr claims that before his relationship broke down with his sons — around the time of the death of their mother in December 2001 — he had funded Jimmy's comedy career for several years.
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