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13
April 2006
Noel
Edmonds Accepts Damages
For Libel
Deal
or No
Deal
presenter
Noel
Edmonds
has accepted undisclosed
libel damages from The
Mail On Sunday newspaper
for allegations about
his private
life.
The
57-year-old's lawyer,
John Kelly, told the
High Court in London
that Edmonds "sought no
publicity" about his
separation and divorce
last year.
The
court heard that the
October 2005 story
alleged that Edmonds
seduced a married woman,
Marjan
Simmons.
The
newspaper accepted that
allegations made in the
story were
untrue.
Associated
Newspapers,
publishers of The Mail
On Sunday, agreed to pay
Edmonds "substantial"
damages and settle the
legal costs incurred by
the libel
action.
The
newspaper's lawyer, Adam
Cannon, said: "The
defendant offers its
apologies to the
claimant and his family
for the distress and
embarrassment caused by
the article."
Mr
Kelly said that the
story had not been put
before Noel Edmonds, who
presents the hit Channel
4 quiz show or his
representatives prior to
publication.
"Had
they done so they would
have been informed of
their utter falsity," he
said.
The
court heard false
allegations made by the
paper that Edmonds had
behaved "improperly and
indecently", forcing Ms
Simmons to leave her
husband and take her
children with her from
the family
home.
The
newspaper story also
falsely alleged the
presenter "exerted undue
influence over her when
she was vulnerable", Mr
Kelly said in
court.
He
added that the paper
alleged Edmonds used a
romantic liaison with Ms
Simmons as part of a
public relations
initiative to relaunch
his career.
"In
order to achieve this he
had set up a
photographer to take
photographs of himself
and Ms Simmons leaving a
restaurant in Nice so as
to obtain publicity for
his new
relationship.
"The
publication of these
allegations has caused
damage to the claimant's
personal and
professional
reputations, in addition
to obvious distress to
both himself, his family
and Ms Simmons" said Mr
Kelly.
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