Parkinson wins libel case over his family

BROADCASTER Sir Michael Parkinson has accepted £25,000 libel damages over a newspaper claim that he had lied about his family background.

Sir Michael, who was at London's High Court yesterday for the settlement of his action against Associated Newspapers, said he would donate the sum in full to two charities – the Alexander Devine Children's Cancer Trust and a school for orphans in South Africa.

His solicitor-advocate, Mark Thomson, told Mr Justice Eady that the article in the Daily Mail in May last year, caused considerable distress and harm to Sir Michael, 74, who has described his upbringing in the mining community of Cudworth, near Barnsley, in his autobiography.

The article suggested that Sir Michael had behaved in a grossly insensitive way towards his elderly uncle, Bernard Parkinson, and alleged that he had intentionally lied about his family background and his father, by painting a false picture of a harmonious and close-knit family and by presenting his father as an honest and well-liked man.

He said the newspaper – which had agreed to pay the damages and Sir Michael's legal costs – now accepted that the allegations were "entirely false".

Mr Thomson said Sir Michael did not lie about his background in order to charm readers.

In addition to the payment of damages and costs, the newspaper had apologised and withdrawn the allegations.