Ken Bates to pay £50,000 damages to ex-Leeds director
Leeds United chairman Ken Bates was ordered to pay £50,000 libel damages at the High Court today to a former director of the club who alleged he was "persecuted".
A judge in London ruled in favour of businessman Melvyn Levi, 65, who brought the action over comments made about him by Mr Bates.
Sir Charles Gray said the libel action arose out of events surrounding the acquisition of Leeds United Football Club by a consortium headed by Bates in 2005.
Levi sued over three articles written by Mr Bates in the Leeds United programme in 2006 and 2007 and a letter written to club members in August 2007.
His claim was that they contained "grave and offensive" libels which "seriously injured" his reputation.
Bates, 78, denied libel, but the judge ruled today that he had failed in his defences of justification and fair comment.
Levi, who lives in Leeds, said he was accused of being a "shyster" who had tried to blackmail the club over money.
Mr Bates, who lives in Monaco and was not present for today's judgment, faces a costs bill believed to be around 1.5 million.
Sir Charles refused him permission to appeal, but he can still apply directly to the Court of Appeal in a bid to take the case further.
The judge said the 50,000 damages he awarded was in respect of the three match programmes "where the defences failed".
Mr Levi's claim in relation to the letter failed as Sir Charles ruled that this was covered by qualified privilege.
The judge listed a number of factors he had taken into account when calculating the appropriate level of damages, including the "gravity of the libels".
He said the "allegation of blackmail is particularly serious".
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