OK, let's get this straight, tour manager Mark Stickland is not a wanker. Well, not in this context anyway. As previously reported, Stickland was suing EMAP's Kerrang! over an interview that ran this time last year with Bullet For My Valentine, in which the band's drummer, Moose, claimed he had walked in on the band's tour manager masturbating in a dressing room back stage at a venue in Germany where they were playing, adding that the band christened him Stinky after the incident. Although Stickland was not named in the interview, he was the tour manager on that Bullet For My Valentine tour, and claimed that the article defamed him, by throwing his professionalism in doubt (based on the logic that professional tour managers don't masturbate while they're at work, which is logic, of a sort).
EMAP stuck by their story, claiming that it was true, and adding that as they didn't mention Stickland by name, to the vast majority of their readership he would have stayed anonymous had he not pursued this case. However, Stickland argued that as he worked in the heavy metal industry, and as they all read Kerrang!, the story put him in a very embarrassing situation. He said: "I felt very awkward picking up the phone and asking people for work. The bands I work with are all heavy metal bands and, in the heavy metal business, everyone reads Kerrang!"
Either way, the jury hearing the case were convinced the incident recalled by Moose did not, in fact, happen and ruled against EMAP, who were ordered to pay forty grand in compensation to Stickland, which is quite a lot compared to the five grand he had asked for in an out of court settlement. The judge hearing the case said the ruling was so clear cut that EMAP won't be allowed to appeal, although they could appeal for the right to appeal, if they so wish.
Following his win Stickland told reporters: "All I ever wanted to do was clear my name and I believe that is what's happened. I'm very relieved it's all over - it's been a year to get where we are".