Key facts
- Dale Vince is set to receive damages from Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail.
- Vince claimed his image was used in an article with a headline that misled readers into believing he was a "sex pest donor".
- The headline actually referred to Davide Serra, who had made sexist comments to a colleague.
- A previous high court ruling dismissing Vince's data protection claim has been overturned by the court of appeal.
- The court of appeal found that ANL had failed to take care not to publish misleading information and images.
Green energy entrepreneur and Labour donor Dale Vince is set to receive damages from Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail, following a court of appeal ruling. Vince had sued ANL over an article published in June 2023 with the headline "Labour repays £100,000 to sex pest donor", which used his photograph despite referring to a different donor, Davide Serra.
The court of appeal overturned a previous high court decision that had dismissed Vince's data protection claim. The judges found that ANL had failed to take care not to publish misleading information and images, stating that the juxtaposition of Vince's photos with the headline would have misled many readers. The ruling noted that the pictures of Vince remained in the print edition and on the Mail+ app, even after being changed online.
Vince argued that the publication of his image unfairly used his personal data and implied he had been accused of sexual harassment. ANL's defense had argued that the context was clear and that Vince was attempting to resurrect a libel action. However, the court of appeal judges concluded that ANL had "no real prospect" of defending Vince's damages claim.
Following the ruling, Vince commented on the implications for media coverage, suggesting that libel law needs updating for the modern era due to people's tendency to scan headlines rather than read articles in full.