Legal Media

Charlotte Church wins damages from The People

By | Published on Thursday 26 July 2012

Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church has won undisclosed damages at the conclusion of her libel case against The People, reports the BBC.

As previously reported, the Sunday tabloid claimed last November that the singer had proposed to her boyfriend Jonathan Powell after an evening of heavy drinking at a karaoke night in a Cardiff bar. The article claimed that Church was so drunk that she had to be “physically helped out of the pub”, while quoting another apparent patron who said they’d “helped her to the taxi afterwards”. But the singer and her partner were, in fact, five miles away from the Cardiff bar that night, with Church performing at Acapella Studio in Pentrych.

Earlier in proceedings, People publisher The Mirror Group conceded the story was made up, but asked that Church’s libel claim be dismissed on the basis that being pissed and/or proposing in public – or both – were not sufficiently embarrassing things to be accused of for there to be a case for defamation. But in March, Church’s lawyer David Sherborne argued that the story had been damaging to the singer’s image, as she is a mother of two. Judge Michael Tugendhat agreed, allowing the case to proceed to court.

Church herself was not at the High Court as the case was settled earlier this week. Nevertheless, speaking for the newspaper group, solicitor Harry Kinmonth said his client now apologised for the hurt and damage she had suffered because of the story.



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