Thursday May 27, 2021, 12:46 PM
Dr Christian Jessen has been ordered by a judge at the High Court in Belfast to pay damages of £125,000 to Arlene Foster for posting an outrageous defamatory tweet which made unfounded claims that the First Minister was having an extra-marital affair. Credit: PA
TV presenter Dr Christian Jessen has been ordered to pay damages of £125,000 to Arlene Foster for posting an “outrageous” defamatory tweet which made unfounded claims that the First Minister of Northern Ireland was having an extramarital affair.
Delivering judgment in the case at the High Court in Belfast, Mr Justice McAlinden accepted that the false tweet by the celebrity doctor had cut Mrs Foster “to the core”.
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Last modified on Fri 28 May 2021 11.35 EDT
The celebrity doctor Christian Jessen has been ordered to pay £125,000 in damages to the Northern Ireland first minister, Arlene Foster, for a tweet that falsely claimed she was having an affair.
The high court in Belfast awarded the sum â a record for a case hinging on a tweet â on Thursday to vindicate and compensate Foster, the outgoing leader of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP), for what it said was a baseless accusation.
âIt was an outrageous libel concerning an individual of considerable standing, attacking her integrity at a most fundamental level and it involves the trashing, in a very public fashion, of the relationship that Mrs Foster holds dearest in her life,â said Mr Justice McAlinden. âIt affected core aspects of the plaintiffâs life, namely, her relationship with her husband and her deep Christian faith.â
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Embarrassing Bodies star Christian Jessen has been ordered to pay damages of £125,000 to Arlene Foster for posting an outrageous tweet that wrongly said she was having an affair.
The First Minister of Northern Ireland sued Dr Jessen for defamation following a tweet he posted in December 2019 making an unfounded claim that she was having an extra-marital affair.
The message remained online until January 7, 2020, referring to Mrs Foster as the sanctity of marriage preaching woman , adding: It always comes back to bite them on the a e in the end.
Embarrassing Bodies star Christian Jessen has been ordered to pay damages of £125,000 to Arlene Foster for posting an outrageous tweet that wrongly said she was having an affair.