Holden wins libel case against Mirror

The Daily Mirror has been forced to make an embarrassing climbdown after the 3am gossip column wrongly alleged actress Amanda Holden complained about her accommodation arrangements during the filming of BBC1 hairdressing drama Cutting It.

Holden has settled her libel action against the Mirror in return for an apology, an undertaking not to repeat the allegations. It has also paid damages, believed to be about £10,000.

"I am very glad to have reached an amicable settlement with the Daily Mirror about these articles," Holden said.

The Mirror, in two articles published in September and October 2002, reported Holden had fallen out with her BBC bosses and had been difficult about where she was to stay in Manchester while Cutting It was being filmed.

In a joint statement in open court today, her solicitor, Peter Crawford, said: "Although 3am spoke to the BBC before publishing the story, the Daily Mirror did not attempt to contact Amanda Holden or her agent before publishing the story.

"Had this been done, the Daily Mirror would have been told - as was the case - that there was no truth whatsoever in this allegation and that its 'perfectly placed source' was no such thing," he added.

Mr Crawford said even though Holden's press agent telephoned the Mirror to complain about the first article, 3am returned to the subject a week later, this time in more detail.

"The very same day, Miss Holden - through her solicitors and the BBC - immediately protested to the Daily Mirror at the yet further inaccuracies in this second article," he said.

"Although she made clear she required an immediate retraction of these allegations, no such offer was made by the Daily Mirror.

"Indeed, it was a source of real frustration to her not just that these untrue allegations had been published but that the newspaper failed properly to respond to her solicitor's letters.

"She felt, in those circumstances, she had no option but to bring this claim."

He added: "Having been told the allegations in the first article were totally untrue, the newspaper could not claim to have published the second article in ignorance of the true facts."

Representing the Mirror, solicitor Philip Conway said in a statement: "The defendant accepts these allegations were untrue and, having investigated the matter, they should not have been published and it withdraws these allegations unreservedly.

"On behalf of the Daily Mirror I wish to apologise unreservedly to Miss Holden for the distress and embarrassment caused."

Mr Crawford also represented Holden and her now estranged husband, comedian Les Dennis, in a landmark case against Express Newspapers.

He helped the couple win £40,000 in damages after the Daily Star published pictures of Holden topless at a private villa in Tuscany in June 2002.

The couple also gained an injunction preventing the publication of another set of pictures taken of them by a freelance photographer.

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