A FORMER North-East MP has lost his libel case against a national newspaper over reports he claimed £5 church donation on expenses.
Frank Cook, who was a Labour MP for Stockton North, sued The Sunday Telegraph over three articles reporting on his expenses claims, which included one for reimbursement of the donation made at a Battle of Britain memorial, made by one of his aides.
Mr Cook, who reimbursed the aide, admitted having made the claim for £5, which was disallowed by Parliamentary authorities, but said he did so by mistake.
At the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Tugendhat said that the articles by The Sunday Telegraph, which included a lead article published on May 31, 2009, were honest comment.
He said Mr Cook had failed in his attempt to defeat the defence by proving malice.
Mr Justice Tugendhat said that on May 9 he ruled the articles were all comment, rather than statements of fact, and meant that: Mr Cook's claim was particularly embarrassing given his support of the campaign to commemorate a Battle of Britain hero; that Mr Cook thought it appropriate to make a claim for a refund of £5; and that at the time he made the claim he did not believe he could justify it to the public.
He accepted the submission by David Price QC, for the newspaper, that an honest person could believe Mr Cook had thought it appropriate to make the claim while at the same time not believing he could justify it to the public, if they were to find out.
"There is no inconsistency in believing that a claim may be justifiable or appropriate under one set of rules while at the same time believing that it was not justifiable under some other rules or standard. What is justifiable legally is not always justifiable morally," said Mr Justice Tugendhat.
The Sunday Telegraph journalists believed Mr Cook thought it appropriate to claim the £5 on his expenses, and did not accept he could have done it by mistake - the claim was in his handwriting - although it might have been an error of judgment, the judge said.
After the judgement, The Sunday Telegraph editor Ian MacGregor said: "Of all the MPs who featured in the Telegraph's 2009 MPs' expenses investigation, Frank Cook was the only one to bring a libel action."
He added: "This judgement shows again the quality of the work our journalists do, often in challenging circumstances, and underlines the legitimacy of the investigation as a matter of enormous public interest."
Last night, Mr Cook said: "Obviously, I need to study the details of the judgement and consult my legal advisors before I can comment in detail."
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