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Rachel Riley court victory leaves former Corbyn aide with £500k legal bill

Former Countdown presenter awarded £10,000 in damages

December 23, 2021 09:44
GettyImages-1047467984
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 08: In this handout image provided by Bauer Media, Rachel Riley poses with campaigners outside of the Houses of Parliament before delivering the 'Where's Your Head At?' Mental Health petition to Downing Street on October 8, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Handout/Tom Nicholson for Bauer Media via Getty Images )
2 min read

TV star Rachel Riley has left a former Jeremy Corbyn aide facing at least half a million pounds in legal costs after defeating her in a gruelling two-year libel battle that concluded this week.

The judge found that Ms Riley, 35, was entitled to “vindication” over a tweeted posted by Mr Corbyn’s former head of complaints Laura Murray, 32, in 2019 and awarded the Countdown presenter £10,000 in damages.

But the JC understands that Ms Murray will face legal bills running into the hundreds of thousands.

It is as yet unclear how Ms Murray, whose family, according to the Times, was behind the sale of Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece L’Enfant au Pigeon for £50m in 2013, will pay the costs of the case.