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  1. Media Law
March 28, 2012

Rothschild appeals ‘puppet-master’ Daily Mail libel defeat

By PA Media Lawyer

Banker Nathaniel Rothschild has lodged papers with the Court of Appeal in his libel battle with the Daily Mail.

He is seeking permission to appeal against the decision of Mr Justice Tugendhat on February 10 that Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, did not libel him in an article which appeared in the newspaper in May 2010.

The application is at present scheduled to be dealt with some time between 11 May and 1 June.

Rothschild, 40, who is based in Switzerland, had alleged in his libel claim that the newspaper’s article portrayed him as a “puppet-master” who brought together Lord Mandelson and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, and amounted to “sustained and unjustified attacks”.

The newspaper denied libel and pleaded justification. Rothschild had announced his intention to appeal in a statement after Mr Justice Tugendhat gave his judgment.

Lord Mandelson and Deripaska were not parties to the action and did not take any part in the trial.

A spokesman for Associated Newspapers said after the judgment that had the newspaper lost it could have faced costs of more than £1 million.

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