Michelle Mone threatened with authorized motion for mendacity to press about PPE scandal
Michelle Mone and her husband Douglas Barrowman have been threatened with authorized motion over mendacity to the press.
Campaign group the Good Law Project is supporting the New European to launch a case towards Baroness Mone early within the new yr after she lastly admitted she and her husband lied to journalists about their position within the PPE scandal. Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman have been issuing authorized threats towards media retailers who printed tales concerning the £200million of Government contracts given to PPE Medpro.
The group famous the Mirror was amongst organisations “who have had to spend time and money dealing with defamation threats because of their reporting”. It stated it believes the New European, which has spent 1000’s of kilos defending itself towards Baroness Mone’s authorized threats, might be able to get better prices by means of authorized motion – the place there may be “deceit”.
In her first interview concerning the PPE Medpro scandal, Baroness Mone this weekend insisted she and Mr Barrowman have been made “scapegoats”. She advised the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that she’d performed nothing unsuitable aside from mendacity to the press – which she stated is “not a crime”.
But in an announcement in the present day, the Good Law Project stated: “We won’t let wealthy individuals with powerful connections silence media organisations and campaigners working to expose the truth. So we’re supporting The New European to launch a case against Michelle Mone early within the new yr.
“The newspaper has spent 1000’s of kilos defending itself towards Mone’s authorized threats, and we expect there’s a authorized mechanism to get better these prices – the place there may be ‘deceit’. And they’re not the one ones. Media retailers such because the Guardian, The Mirror, Byline Times, The National and Tortoise – in addition to many different freelance reporters – have needed to spend money and time coping with defamation threats due to their reporting on PPE Medpro.”
Executive Director of Good Law Project Jo Maugham added: “The law must not allow itself to become a tool whereby those with money can bully and silence those with none. We aim to create further jeopardy for those who engage in these kinds of egregious breaches.”
Matt Kelly, Editor in Chief of The New European, said: “Mone sought to pretend that the Lady M yacht had nothing to do with her. That is a nonsense. We were forced to spend several thousand pounds of costs in legal fees responding to her mendacious threats. We want our money back. More than that, we want to establish a future deterrent against wealthy individuals willing to lie to stymie honest reporting. We look forward to seeing Mone in court in the new year.”
Baroness Mone’s legal team said: “The New European printed inaccurate and unfaithful tales about Baroness Mone. It is now laughable that they need to sue her; that is nothing greater than a shallow try to generate their very own publicity and gasoline a media furore in a pathetic try to spice up their poor readership numbers. Baroness Mone’s authorized group are wanting ahead to receiving their letter & will search again from all of them authorized prices wasted in responding.”
