Richard Desmond, the proprietor of Express Newspapers, did not know about a negative article about rival proprietor Conrad Black until shortly before it was published by one of his newspapers, he told the high court today.
Giving evidence, Desmond said he knew nothing about the story, which was prompted by an article in a financial journal, until around the time of publication and it had no connection with a printing dispute between the two men.
Desmond said that running the story was the decision of the Sunday Express editor, Martin Townsend, and that "the editor's decision is final".
Desmond, the multi-millionaire owner of OK! magazine and the Express titles, is suing the author and journalist Tom Bower for allegations he made in his unauthorised biography of Black.
Desmond claims he was defamed in a tiny portion of the book, which claims that he was forced into a "humiliating climbdown" when the Sunday Express printed an apology for publishing an story about Black's finances. Bower claimed the apology was a "victory" for Black against "a tough operator", which showed that "grinding his critics into the dust had never failed".
Acting for Desmond, Ian Winter QC told Mr Justice Eady and a jury at London's high court that the passage complained of contained 10 major factual errors and that Bower fell "a very long way short" of being able to prove his case.
Winter said it was not true that Desmond was motivated by personal revenge – after losing a court dispute with Black over the West Ferry printing plant – to order an Express paper to run an inaccurate story, in November 2002, that Hollinger was facing financial crisis after a bank had withdrawn a loan. At the time Black was a business rival, as owner of the Telegraph newspaper group.
The story was written by the former Daily Mirror City reporter Anil Bhoyrul under the byline of "Frank Daly". Bhoyrul worked for the Sunday Express for several years and produced a two-page section in the business pages, Media Uncovered.
Ronald Thwaite, QC, for Bower, said Desmond had brought the action to prove he wasn't soft.
"Mr Desmond is here because he wants to tell the world that he is not a wimp. 'I'm not a wimp, have you got that? I'm Richard Desmond, owner of four newspapers'," said Thwaite, impersonating the publisher.
The truth, said Thwaite, was that Desmond was "bested" by Black. "Lord Black got the better of him – as he did lots of people – until justice eventually caught up with him, and Mr Desmond can't take it, and that's why we've got all this convoluted performance into what these words mean."
Thwaite told the jury: "You would have to strain every syllable of [the offending passage] to read something defamatory into it." It was "much ado about nothing", he added.
Even if the jury did believe Desmond had been defamed, they should not award him damages "because he has a bad reputation as a newspaper proprietor for having a go at people he doesn't like through his newspaper", said Thwaite, adding that he would be calling the media expert (and Guardian blogger) Professor Roy Greenslade to give evidence to this effect.
For a newspaper proprietor, Desmond had a "thin skin", said Thwaite, which was strange considering the "rough and tumble" media world he inhabited. The QC also accused Desmond of "suffering from delusions".
"You would think he would be able to put up with a deal of criticism considering his papers hand it out to all sorts of people every week," said Thwaite, later taking it upon himself to tell the jury that he personally never read any of Desmond's papers.
Winter said correspondence between Desmond and Black showed that there was no personal vendetta between the two men, despite the mutual "ribbing" in their newspapers.
He added that the action was not about money but vindication.
"Mr Desmond, as a businessman, has to deal with people and if they believe that, despite having this tough reputation, he is a wimp and can be made to say sorry for things that are true, it can be very damaging for him."
Bower denies libel and says that what he wrote about Desmond in Conrad And Lady Black: Dancing On The Edge was substantially true and was not – in any event – defamatory.
The case continues.
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