Judge Sir Charles Levy has sided with Former Leeds United Director Melvyn Levin over Libel Claims against current Chairman Ken Bates regarding articles written during the course of the 2006 / 07 campaign in the Leeds Match Programs.

Via Guardian 

Accusing Levi, among other allegations, of being a “shyster” trying to “blackmail” the club, and an “enemy within.”

The full judgment is here. Levi was awarded £50,000 damages, a level the judge, Sir Charles Gray, described as “at the higher end of the bracket” asked for by Levi’s barrister, Simon Myerson QC. That award, Sir Charles writes in his judgment, reflects:

- “the gravity of the libels: the allegation of blackmail is particularly serious;”
- “the fact that the libels were repeated on several occasions over a period of ten months;”
- “the fact that Mr Bates sought unsuccessfully to justify his statements about Mr Levi…” and
- “perhaps most important of all, the obvious distress and injury to Mr Levi’s feelings caused by the libels.”

Sir Charles particularly highlighted the “gratuitous inclusion of Mr Levi’s home address” in one of the programme articles, and in another, “the reference to [Mr Levi’s] home telephone number being in the telephone book, which was in effect an invitation to Leeds fans to pester Mr Levi.”

Bates was ordered to pay Levi’s costs which, together with Bates’ own costs, are estimated to be approaching £1.5m. In his evidence last month, Bates told the court that despite receiving £17m from Roman Abramovich when the Russian oligarch bought Chelsea from him in 2003, Bates does not in fact have much cash. He said he was not in a position to put money into Leeds when the club was in financial difficulties, because: “People can be rich, but not cash rich - they have assets.” Sir Charles asked Bates if he was saying that was his position, and Bates replied: “Yes.”

Image via LeedsAndProud