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September 14, 2007

Business F1 company wound up after libel bill

By Rachael Gallagher

Publisher Tom Rubython’s company Business F1 Magazine Ltd has gone into receivership after a successful petition for winding-up, following an award for libel damages.

Publisher and owner Rubython had not paid Tony Purnell – a former team principal of the now defunct Jaguar Racing Formula One team – all of £75,000 libel damages plus legal costs he was ordered to pay after losing an appeal in April over the claim made against BusinessF1 magazine.

Rubython said: ‘We had a big libel judgment so we put the company down.’He insists the monthly newsstand magazine will continue to be published and said that he moved the title over to his second company, Business F1 Books a couple of months ago. He said: ‘It’s unfortunate that it happened, but for us, it’s business as usual.’

The case arose from an article which appeared in BusinessF1 magazine in April 2005, which made false allegations relating to Purnell gaining positive editorial coverage of the Jaguar team’s achievements.

Rubython sought to use a justification defence, but it was struck out in March 2006.

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