British businesswoman/actress  wins High Court battle over businessman who attacked her property business

Actress Linda Bellingham has won damages and an apology from a businessman who wrongly accused her and her husband of being involved in property fraud.

Darren Richards created anonymous blogs that defamed Miss Bellingham and her property business, Virtual Property World, which she owns with her husband Michael Pattemore.

The 64-year-old actress, who starred as the mother in the Oxo television adverts, won a six-figure settlement from Richards who has also apologised.

Mr Richards accused Mr Pattemore of being involved in property fraud. The couple believed he was trying to stop customers using their property business

Miss Bellingham and her husband only discovered what had been written on the blogs when they were contacted by the British Franchise Association.

The couple applied to the High Court and were granted an 'unmasking order' which meant Google and Wordpress had to reveal the IP address of the computer which posted the blog.

Source

Libel is harder to uncover now but is still illegal, as it should be.  It can do great damage.