Former Leeds United owner wins damages following libellous magazine article

Businessman Ken Bates, the former owner and chairman of football clubs Leeds United and Chelsea, has been awarded £150,000 in damages after a High Court libel battle.

Bates took legal action against journalist Tom Rubython and BusinessF1 Magazine – of which Mr Rubython is the director and majority shareholder – after he was profiled in a May 2023 article titled: “The biggest ‘wrong-un’ in sport”.

Deputy High Court Judge Aidan Eardley KC said in a ruling that the businessman claimed the article featured allegations that he had “directed the murder of business rivals, in order to further his business interests” and “illegally and fraudulently asset stripped Chelsea Athletic and Football Club Limited”.

Bates’s lawyers sent a “detailed explanation as to why the allegations were false” after the article’s publication to Rubython, who then published “an edited version of the letter”.

Rubython argued that Bates “already had such a bad reputation that it was incapable of sustaining any serious harm as a result of the publication of the article”.

However, Judge Eardley ruled Bates had been defamed and awarded him £150,000 in damages, branding the case as “serious libel”.

He also granted an injunction restraining the defendants from publishing the same or similar allegations.

He described the article as a “comprehensive character assassination” of Bates, also noting the allegations were not put to Bates in advance of publication to give him a chance to respond.

In his detailed ruling, Judge Eardley said: “I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the publication of the article has caused serious harm to the claimant’s reputation.

“The allegations are very serious: murder, suspected murder, serial dishonesty and the use of heavy-handed tactics to cover this all up.

“The article was read by a substantial number of people in England and Wales, probably around 9,000.

“The article has none of the balance that is generally found in modern serious journalism.

“The allegation of murdering rivals in the concrete business appears to be based on little more than the assertion that this is what everyone did at the time, which would strike some readers as an extraordinarily flimsy basis for such a serious allegation.”

Commenting in a statement released after the ruling, Bates said: “I am very pleased with the decision of the court today. This is an article that should never have been published, and the judgment makes that clear.”

Bates acquired a 50% stake in Leeds United in January 2005, a time when the club was struggling with heavy debts. In May 2007, Leeds entered administration, and were relegated to League One.

The club regained Championship status in 2010 and, in May 2011, it was confirmed Bates had become the sole owner. In November 2012, he sold his holdings in Leeds United to GFH Capital.