A High Court jury has awarded Tony Purnell, the former head of the
Jaguar Formula One team, £75,000 in damages in his libel action against
BusinessF1 Magazine and its editor Tom Rubython. Rubython and BusinessF1 Magazine will also have to pay Purnell's legal costs making the total award in excess of £200,000.
Purnell
took the magazine and its controversial editor to court after it
published a story alleging Purnell had bribed a journalist. In a High
Court hearing in March, Mr Justice Eady held that an attempt by the
magazine and Rubython to justify the allegation could not be sustained
and should be struck out.
Purnell was awarded the costs of the
application and was granted an injunction preventing Business F1 from
repeating the allegation.
The only issue left for the jury to
consider was the level of damages to be awarded to Purnell, which took
into account the conduct of Rubython leading up to and during the
trial, in a ruling presided over by Mr Justice Gray.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
