Wednesday, November 28, 2012 6:10am ET by  
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Louis Walsh "relieved" as he settles £400,000 libel case against The Sun

Louis Walsh has settled a defamation case worth £403,500 (€500,000) against the Irish edition of The Sun.

The deal relates to an article published by the newspaper which focused on a false allegation that the X Factor judge sexually assaulted a man at a nightclub.

Leonard Watters had claimed Walsh groped him at a Dublin club in 2011, but he was jailed in July for six months for wrongly accusing the TV personality.

Walsh said today (November 28): "I'm very relieved. This has had a terrible effect on me. It was all lies. 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, said of the case:

"The Sun published an article in its editions of 23 June 2011, in which we reported that Louis Walsh was being investigated in relation to a sexual assault on Leonard Watters. In fact it transpired that Leonard Watters had made a false statement to An Garda Siochana, and he has since been convicted in relation to this matter."

He continued: "The Sun fully accepts that the alleged assault did not occur in the first place and Louis Walsh is entirely innocent of any such assault. The Sun unreservedly apologises to Louis Walsh for any distress caused to him as a result of our article."

 

 

 

Watch Louis Walsh being interviewed below: