Inventor alleged article criticising his championing of Brexit and move to Singapore was ‘vicious and vitriolic’
James Dyson has lost his libel claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror.
The inventor, 76, gave evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice for two days in a trial against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over an article published in January 2022.
In the Daily Mirror article, the journalist Brian Reade referred to the engineer as “the vacuum-cleaner tycoon who championed Vote Leave due to the economic opportunities it would bring to British industry before moving his global head office to Singapore”.
Reade continued: “Kids, talk the talk but then screw your country and if anyone complains, tell them to suck it up.”
Dyson brought the high court claim against MGN, describing the allegations in the article as a “vicious and vitriolic” personal attack.
Brexit was actually a very good thing. If you’re a multimillionaire owner of a multinational business, or looking to short the pound, or any number of things that are only available to the rich. Shite for the rest of us though.
In the Daily Mirror article, the journalist Brian Reade referred to the engineer as “the vacuum-cleaner tycoon who championed Vote Leave due to the economic opportunities it would bring to British industry before moving his global head office to Singapore”.
I feel unclean for agreeing with the Mirror, but I'm so glad Dyson lost this case.
The inventor, 76, gave evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice for two days in a trial against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over an article published in January 2022.
In the Daily Mirror article, the journalist Brian Reade referred to the engineer as “the vacuum-cleaner tycoon who championed Vote Leave due to the economic opportunities it would bring to British industry before moving his global head office to Singapore”.
Dyson brought the high court claim against MGN, describing the allegations in the article as a “vicious and vitriolic” personal attack.
He said: “In the present case the claimant cannot demonstrate that he has suffered financial loss as a result of these publications.
During the trial, Justin Rushbrooke KC, for Dyson, said in written submissions that the articles, in print and online, “constituted a serious and unjustified slur on Sir James’s reputation, business and personal”.
Adrienne Page KC, for MGN, said the words in the article were “substantially correct” and that Dyson could not dictate how the commentator posed them.
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