Arlene Foster awarded £125k damages in Dr Christian Jessen libel case

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Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster has been awarded £125,000 in damages after a defamatory tweet by TV presenter Dr Christian Jessen.

Dr Jessen tweeted an unfounded allegation that Mrs Foster had been having an extra-marital affair on 23 December 2019.

The post remained online until Dr Jessen deleted it on 7 January 2020.

A judge at the High Court in Belfast said it was an "outrageous libel" which was "grossly defamatory".

Mr Justice McAlinden said the tweet had attacked Mrs Foster's "integrity at a most fundamental level" and involved the "trashing in a very public fashion" the relationship which was most important in her life.

He told the court the tweet had called into question her suitability to hold the office of first minister at a time when delicate negotiations were continuing on the re-establishment of the Stormont executive following three years of deadlock.

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Awarding damages, the judge said: "To state that a woman married for 25-and-a-half years and a mother of three children, who is a committed Christian and who is recognised as such, and who has publicly made statements extolling the importance and sanctity of marriage... was an adulterer, a hypocrite and a homophobe is a most serious libel.

"It is an outrageous libel concerning an individual of considerable standing, attacking her integrity at the most fundamental level, and it involves the trashing in a very public fashion of the relationship that Mrs Foster holds dearest in her life."

He ordered Dr Jessen, who is best known for presenting Channel Four programme Embarrassing Bodies, to pay damages of £125,000 and Mrs Foster's legal costs.

'Cut her to the core'

The judge also addressed the fact that Dr Jessen failed to respond to warnings from Mrs Foster's lawyer - which became the subject of mainstream media coverage.

"The offending tweet remained on the defendant's Twitter account for two weeks, a Twitter account with 311,000 followers," he said. "The tweet was liked approximately 3,500 times and it was retweeted 517 times.

"This outrageously bad libel cut her (Mrs Foster) to the core, causing her considerable upset, distress, humiliation, embarrassment and hurt."

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During a previous hearing, Mrs Foster had told the court she was left humiliated by the unfounded rumour which "trashed" her 25-year marriage.

The court was also told that Dr Jessen did not engage with the legal case for more than 12 months because he believed "most things including court proceedings" had been stalled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

He said he had taken "some considerable time off" work because of ill-health, and said he rarely watched television or read newspapers.

The former Harley Street doctor was asked why he had not heeded a tweet from Mrs Foster's solicitor, Paul Tweed, on 24 December 2019, instructing him to remove the tweet or face legal action.

Dr Jessen said he had read the tweet, but did not realise Mr Tweed was a lawyer, adding that he would have been "scrolling through many replies".

"I never imagined and still find it hard to imagine a lawyer would tweet a statement to me over Twitter on Christmas Eve - the likelihood of me not taking it seriously which I didn't - is very high," he told the court.

DUP revolt

Mrs Foster's tenure as DUP leader will end on Friday. She remains as first minister until the end of June.

She announced her decision to resign in April after facing a revolt from DUP members.

She had led the party since December 2015 and was appointed first minister of Northern Ireland the following month.

BBC News NI understands that she will sever her ties with the DUP when she stands down as first minister.

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May 27, 2021 at 11:44PM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57268308