Mosley turns the screw on NOTW

Max Mosley has continued his litigation against the News of the World by launching a libel suit against the newspaper, with specific regard to the April 6, 2008 edition – the follow-up to its original exposé a week earlier.

Mosley won his privacy action against the paper after Justice Eady deemed that there was no evidence that the FIA president’s S&M session with five prostitutes involved any Nazi connections, and thus there was no legitimate public interest that could justify the story. Mosley was awarded £60,000, but he did not win the punitive exemplary damages that he had also been seeking. The newspaper had to pay costs of around £1 million.

The libel action was announced the following day. A statement from Mosley’s lawyers clearly implied that the action had in part been motivated by the NOTW’s downplaying of the initial verdict.

Mosley is also taking legal action against German tabloid Bild and its website.