Laurence Fox must pay £36,000 legal fees of Coronation Street star, drag artists and Stonewall executive who are suing him for libel after he called them ‘paedophiles’ on Twitter
- Mr Fox must pay the £36k legal costs of the people who are suing him for libel
- Actor is being sued by Simon Blake, Nicola Thorp and drag artist Crystal
- Mr Fox founded the Reclaim Party and stood for London mayor in elections
- Judge said he had ‘no hesitation’ in dismissing the actor’s bid for a trial by jury
Laurence Fox will have to pay more than £36,000 in legal fees to three people he referred to as ‘paedophiles’ on Twitter after losing his bid for a jury to hear their High Court libel battle.
The actor, who turned 44 on Thursday, is being sued by former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake, ex-Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp and drag artist Crystal over an online row in October 2020.
In turn, Mr Fox – who founded the Reclaim Party and unsuccessfully stood as a candidate in the last London mayoral election – is counter-suing the trio over tweets accusing him of racism in an exchange following Sainsbury’s decision to celebrate Black History Month.
Laurence Fox will have to pay more than £36,000 in legal fees to three people he referred to as ‘paedophiles’ on Twitter
At a hearing last month, Mr Fox’s lawyers asked for the case to be decided by a jury rather than a judge – which is now highly unusual in defamation cases.
However Mr Justice Nicklin denied the request for a jury, adding he had ‘no hesitation’ in doing so.
At a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Thursday, the judge said Mr Fox would have to pay the trio’s legal costs of responding to his request for a jury trial – £36,684.
‘I think it would be fair for me to say that this was an ambitious application,’ Mr Justice Nicklin said.
Mr Fox, who did not appear at the most recent hearing, has been given 21 days to pay the sum.
The actor is being sued by former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake, former Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp and drag artist Crystal (pictured) following an online row in October 2020.
In turn, Mr Fox is counter-suing the trio over tweets accusing him of racism in an exchange following Sainsbury’s decision to celebrate Black History Month
At a hearing last month, Mr Fox’s lawyers asked for the case to be decided by a jury rather than a judge – which is now highly unusual in defamation cases
The actor’s legal costs for making the unsuccessful bid came to £116,314.55, according to court documents.
Making the bid for a jury trial, Mr Fox’s barrister Alexandra Marzec had said a jury would be better at reaching fair verdicts ‘in light of the cultural and social context of this case’, adding that judges could be subject to ‘involuntary bias’.
However, Mr Justice Nicklin said in his written judgment: ‘The defendant has not satisfied me that a fair-minded and informed observer would conclude that there was a real possibility that a judge trying this case alone would suffer from ‘involuntary bias’.
‘The fair-minded and informed observer must be taken to know that, faithful to his/her judicial oath, the judge in this case would be required to apply the law to the determination of the issues in the case, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.’
The next hearing in the case is now due in the autumn.
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