Victim awarded £22,000 over libellous profile
Friday, 25 July 2008
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A businessman whose personal life was detailed in a fake profile on the social networking website Facebook has been awarded £22,000 in a libel case he brought against an old school friend who had launched an online vendetta against him.
Matthew Firsht sued Grant Raphael, a freelance cameraman he fell out with eight years ago, for libel and misuse of personal information after Raphael created a false Facebook profile and a group called "Has Matthew Firsht lied to you?".
Raphael told the High Court that the profile was created by a group of cunning friends during a party at his home in London but a judge retorted that his defence was "built on lies".
Mr Firsht, who runs a website that books live audiences for television shows including Big Brother and Top Gear, was awarded £15,000 for libel and £2,000 for breach of privacy by Deputy Judge Richard Parkes QC. His company was also awarded £5,000 for libel. The false profile set up by Raphael contained a wealth of private information and purported to give an insight into Mr Firsht's lifestyle. Along with details of his birthday, his whereabouts, and his activities, the profile described Mr Firsht's relationship status as "looking for whatever I can get". It also made false claims about his political views and sexual orientation, listing him as a member of several other groups on Facebook, including "Gay in the Wood... Borehamwood".
Mr Firsht also claimed the false profile made several highly damaging allegations about his financial life, including that he owed vast amounts of money, and that he only avoided paying his debts by lying.
Raphael, who denied liability, said "strangers" at a party at his home in Hampstead, north London, sneaked into a spare room and created the false profile without his knowledge, a claim the judge did not believe.
The judge added that had Mr Firsht been offered an apology he would not have gone through with litigation. Mr Firsht's anguish, the judge said, wasexacerbated by a lengthy court procedure that was only necessary because of Raphael's incessant lies.
