Louis Walsh Wins £403,500 Over Sun Sex Slur

Louis Walsh has won a 500,000 euro (£403,500) settlement from The Sun after the newspaper carried false sex assault allegations.

The X Factor judge sued the newspaper after it published a story that was based on a false allegation that he sexually assaulted a man in a Dublin nightspot after a Westlife concert.

The newspaper has admitted that the claim, which was made by an unemployed dance teacher, Leonard Watters, was false and apologised to Walsh accepting that the "alleged assault did not occur in the first place".

Speaking outside court following the out-of-court settlement, Walsh said he would not have wished what happened to him on his worst enemy.

He said: "I'm very relieved. This has had a terrible effect on me guys. It was all lies.

"And I'm very satisfied with this total vindication for me, but I remain very angry at the treatment I received at the hands of The Sun."

Eoin McCullough, senior counsel for News Group Newspapers, read an apology to Walsh at the High Court in Dublin.

It said: "The Sun unreservedly apologies to Louis Walsh for any distress caused to him as a result of our article."

Louis Walsh lines up with his fellow X Factor judges

The Sun published an article in its editions on June 23, 2011, with the headline "Louis Probed Over 'Sex Attack' on Man in Loo" in which it was wrongly claimed Walsh has groped Watters at the celebrity nightclub Krystle following a Westlife concert in April 2011.

When the official complaint was made, The Sun and the Irish Sun printed the story before Walsh was questioned under caution. He denied the accusations against him.

Watters was subsequently jailed for six months for making the false allegations.

The newspaper accepted that the accusation was false but initially denied defamation, saying it had acted fairly as the story was based on police inquiries into the allegation.

Walsh's lawyer, Paul Tweed, said that a great deal of damage had been done to his client because of the online spread of the story and added that it was something he hoped Lord Leveson would address in his report on media standards, due to be published tomorrow.

Mr Tweed said: "Although the person who fabricated the story has since been convicted in the criminal courts, this is a prime example of the serious damage that can be inflicted on an individual, whether they are well known or not, by the publication of totally unfounded allegations which, in the age of the internet, can circumnavigate the globe in a matter of seconds."

The Prime Minister's spokesman said that half a dozen copies of the Leveson report had been received by Downing Street today, ahead of its publication tomorrow. The report will recommend the best way to regulate the country's press.

The case was settled before the President of the High Court in Ireland, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns.

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