Laurence Fox ordered to pay £180k damages after wrongly branding people paedophiles

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The High Court has ruled that Laurence Fox must give £180,000 in compensation to two individuals whom he wrongly accused of being paedophiles on social media. This comes after he lost a libel trial in court.

The ex-actor who became a politician was taken to court by former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal. They won the case because, according to the judge, Justice Collins Rice, the comments made by the ex-actor were explicitly homophobic and constituted libel.

During a conversation on Twitter about Sainsbury's decision to recognize Black History Month in October 2020, Mr Fox referred to both Mr Blake and Colin Seymour (also known as a former contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race) as "paedophiles."

The founder of Reclaim Party, who previously declared his intention to boycott the supermarket, made an effort to file a lawsuit against the duo and broadcaster Nicola Thorp for posting tweets that accused him of being racist.

Nonetheless, in a decision made in January, the honorable Ms Justice Collins Rice rejected the counterarguments put forth by Mr. Fox and ruled in favor of Mr. Blake and Mr. Seymour.

On Thursday, the judge made a decision where Mr. Fox was ordered to pay £90,000 in damages to both Mr. Blake and Mr. Seymour.

The woman expressed that Mr. Fox caused Mr. Blake and Mr. Seymour unnecessary turmoil by labeling them as child abusers. This was an unjustified and unfounded defamation that could not be defended. It caused them significant harm and distress in their real lives.

By law, they have a rightful claim to receive a monetary award which can help them overpower the negative impact they faced. This will ensure closure for them and give them a sense of confidence that clears any doubts about their innocence that was wrongly put into question due to the vile accusation they faced.

Ms Justice Collins Rice declared that she approved of the testimony provided by Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, who shared that they had perceived Mr Fox's defamation as particularly discriminatory against the LGBTQ+ community.

She stated that their risk of suffering harm to their reputation due to this false statement was increased due to their prominent positions on matters related to the LGBTQ+ community and their responsibilities in safeguarding related work.

I believed the evidence provided by the claimants which stated that they suffered from homophobic behavior due to the libel, and this led to specific consequences.

She stated: "Suddenly and unexpectedly, they were thrust into the spotlight of a major news story and subjected to intense and divisive scrutiny from the national media."

During a court session in March, Lorna Skinner KC spoke for Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, stating that they must be given "a minimum of six-figure amounts" by Mr Fox. She dismissed the idea of a "small" payment and called it "absurd."

In her verdict, Ms Justice Collins Rice mentioned that the compensation worth could have been much higher if the plaintiff's targets were varied.

She expressed that Mr Fox was lucky, to a certain degree, in his choice of victims. Mr Blake and Mr Seymour had to go through an unjustified experience.

Although they could have potentially had their lives and future opportunities negatively impacted by it, they have fortunately received substantial assistance both publicly and privately. Additionally, they have demonstrated impressive qualities such as confidence, communication skills, adaptability, and perseverance throughout their experiences.

If the situation had been different, the amount of compensation could have been much higher than the amount I ultimately chose.

In different words, Patrick Green KC, who represented Mr. Fox in the case, argued that the compensation amount should be around £10,000 to £20,000. He added that the total sum should be considerably reduced because Mr. Fox had already apologized and there was no intention to cause harm.

According to Mr. Green, the comments were withdrawn and expressed remorse immediately. Additionally, it was evident to the general public from the outset that the accusation was unfounded, at the minimum.

Mr. Fox labeled the initial decision as a decree for bullies before the verdict was out on Thursday and stated that he had completely conflicting views on the outcome.

On Twitter/X, the individual stated, "I am uncertain of the amount that will be granted to these individuals by the judge. However, the expenses associated with these legal proceedings are exceedingly high. Consequently, a substantial sum of money will be written out in the coming days."

Additionally to the amount of compensation, the chief justice also instructed Mr. Fox to refrain from making the accusations against Mr. Blake and Mr. Seymour again, or else risk being convicted of defying the authority of the court.

According to Ms Justice Collins Rice, it is within the legal rights of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour to be protected from any further accusations made by Mr Fox that they are involved in pedophilia. She emphasized that Mr Fox does not have the authority to make such claims and based on his previous statements, it is appropriate to enforce this discipline to ensure that this behavior is not continued.

Nevertheless, the magistrate rejected the request to oblige Mr. Fox to upload a condensed version of the verdict onto his Twitter/X profile.

According to her, everyone knew that Mr Blake and Mr Seymour had won, and there had been a lot of media coverage about it. She warned that if the information was released, it could lead to even more embarrassment for them, and people might make incorrect or harmful comments.