Sir James Dyson has lost his libel claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror at the High Court.
The inventor, 76, brought legal action against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over an article published in January 2022.
In the Daily Mirror article, journalist Brian Reade referred to the engineer as “the vacuum-cleaner tycoon who championed Vote Leave due to the economic opportunities it would bring to British industry before moving his global head office to Singapore”.
Mr Reade continued: “Kids, talk the talk but then screw your country and if anyone complains, tell them to suck it up.”
Sir James subsequently brought the claim against MGN, describing the allegations in the article as a “vicious and vitriolic” personal attack which undermined his work encouraging young people into engineering.
The publisher defended the case, including by arguing that Mr Reade’s article was “honest opinion”.
And in a judgment on Friday, Mr Justice Jay dismissed the inventor’s claim, finding both that MGN’s defence had succeeded and that Sir James had not proved he suffered serious harm to his reputation.
He said: “In the present case the claimant cannot demonstrate that he has suffered financial loss as a result of these publications. Nor can he show that his philanthropic work, particularly directed to young people and schools, has been harmed in any way.”
In the 34-page ruling, the judge described Sir James as “an honest witness albeit one with a particular world view”, after the engineer gave evidence at the London court over two days in November.
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Although It is a lot easier to challenge aspersions with oodles of cash .
Power to the People
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