Football coach Terry Venables has kicked off a legal battle for libel damages over a story in The Sun.
Venables, assistant coach for the England football team, claims a story headed ‘The Brady punch’and ‘El Tel is a wrong choice, Macca’was defamatory.
The story contained allegations that he continued to lead a charmed life by getting away with ‘instances of bribery, lying, deception, the manipulation of accounts and taking money that should have been given to creditors’while working for the FA, according to a High Court writ.
Venables says the story gravely damaged his character and reputation, and caused him considerable distress and embarrassment.
He is also seeking aggravated damages, complaining of the ‘offensive, gratuitous and spiteful tone and content’of the attack on him.
Although he complained four days after the story appeared on 14 October, 2006, News Group has failed to apologise for, correct, or retract its allegations, or make any satisfactory proposals to deal with his complaint, he said.
Now Venables is seeking damages for libel from News Group, as well as an injunction banning repetition of the allegations.
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