Newsnight producer gets cash and apology over Daily Mail stalker claim

The Daily Mail today apologised and agreed to pay "substantial damages" to a Newsnight producer it it said was accused of being a stalker.

Thea Rogers brought the claim against the Daily Mail for a 24 February story headlined: "The Newsnight blonde and the BBC presenter who each accuse the other of being a stalker".

The article was illustrated with a large picture of Rogers and it reported claims, attributed to a BBC presenter, that Rogers had stalked him and made threats against him and his family following the breakdown of their friendship.

Rogers' solicitor David Price today told the High Court that Rogers was "devastated by the publication of such serious allegations and was not prepared to allow them to remain unchallenged."

He said: "I am pleased to inform your Lordship that the defendant now accepts that these claims are without foundation. The claimant has not stalked the Defendant, nor has she made any threats against him or his family. Her behaviour bears no resemblance to the character in Fatal Attraction. The Claimant is not being investigated by the BBC.

"The defendant has agreed to pay the claimant a substantial sum in damages together with her legal costs and will publish an agreed summary of this statement in the Daily Mail. While the claimant would have preferred that the article had never been published, she is pleased that her claim has been resolved promptly, accepts that she has achieved all that she can by bringing these proceedings and feels suitably vindicated."