Richard Desmond, the Express Newspapers proprietor, was in the high court today as his legal battle with Tom Bower began with his lawyer arguing that the journalist and author had got his facts wrong.
Desmond is suing Bower for libel over allegations contained in Bower's book about the former Telegraph owner Lord Black, Conrad And Lady Black: Dancing On The Edge, published in 2006.
The case hinges on a short entry in the book which alleges that Desmond was forced into an embarrassing climbdown after the Daily Express ran a story in late 2002 claiming that Hollinger, the company Black ran and which used to own the Telegraph titles, was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Desmond's lawyers are seeking damages over Bower's claim that he was forced to apologise for the story having ordered the Sunday Express to run it.
After the jury was sworn in, Desmond's counsel, Ian Winter QC, delivered an opening statement arguing that Bower had got his facts wrong.
The contested passage in the book alleges that Desmond was "ground into the dust" by Black, after he sued the paper for running the story.
Winter argued today in the high court that Bower had set out to portray Black as a crook, and used Desmond's argument with the former Telegraph owner to demonstrate that he habitually used the courts to crush his commercial competitors. He also argued that Bower had failed to check the facts of the case and had therefore libelled his client in his eagerness to demonstrate that Black was a disreputable character.
The story was published in the business section of the Sunday Express - not the Daily Express - on 3 November 2002, according to Winter. It claimed that Hollinger's bankers, TD Securities, had withdrawn a multimillion-pound debt facility, which left the company facing "its biggest ever financial crisis". In the book, Bower claimed Desmond had "ordered" the story's publication.
Winter said the story originated in a trade magazine called The International Financial Review and that Desmond was unaware of its existence until after it appeared in the Sunday Express.
He added that the story was passed to Express Newspapers' finance director by a banker. It was written by Anil Bhoryul, a former Daily Mirror City journalist, under the byline of "Frank Daly". Bhoryul worked for the Sunday Express for several years and produced a two-page section in the business section, Media Uncovered.
Winter argued that by portraying Desmond as a notoriously tough businessman who was forced to apologise to Black, Bower damaged his reputation and his standing in the commercial world.
He added that Desmond accepted the story was untrue and had apologised, running a correction in the Sunday Express, after Black also agreed to retract a Daily Telegraph article claiming Express Newspapers was run by "ex convicts".
Winter added that Bower implied Desmond had been humiliated because he apologised for running a story he knew to be true.
However, Desmond had already taken steps to set the record straight and his decision to do so proved that Bower was wrong to claim that he had been "ground into the dust", Winter told the court.
He said that Bower had made a "catalogue of errors", including claiming the original story had been published in the Daily Express rather than the Sunday Express. Winter added that Bower had got his facts, his dates and his conclusions all wrong.
"It is beyond doubt that the [reason for] including this paragraph in the book was to substantiate this thesis about Black's character," he said.
Winter added that his client could not understand why Bower did not apologise for his alleged mistake after it had been pointed out to him. "Why not say 'sorry, I have my eye on Lord Black – I did not realise the bullets I was spraying at Lord Black had inadvertently hit you', he will not do that."
He said that Desmond "did not accept a humiliating settlement" with Black. The fact that this impression had been created by Bower's book could damage his activities as a businessman, Winter added, and have a negative impact on future negotiations with potential competitors.
Winter also read out in court correspondence between Black and Desmond, which he claimed showed that the pair were on good terms despite a slew of stories in their respective papers which criticised the way the two men's press empires were run. He said that this demonstrated Black was not seeking to humiliate Desmond by securing an apology over the Express story.
The case continues tomorrow morning when Bower's lawyer will deliver his opening remarks. Desmond was in court throughout today's proceedings accompanied by his wife, who sat next to him. The Sunday Express editor, Martin Townsend, was also present along with Paul Ashford, the editorial director at Northern & Shell, Express Newspapers' parent company.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.
• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
