ANL accepts that allegations about Dr Elly Hanson were untrue
A clinical psychologist and therapist has won her libel claim against the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline.
Dr Elly Hanson issued proceedings over false and defamatory allegations relating to her involvement in Operations Midland and Conifer.
Mail on Sunday and MailOnline published apologies online and in hard copy on 31 January 2021, paid Dr Hanson £65,000 in damages, and agreed to pay her legal costs. The offending article related to the role allegedly played by “psychotherapists” in “fuelling” the fantasies of Carl Beech, whose allegations of historic child sexual abuse were investigated in the context of Operations Midland and Conifer.
The article contained several false allegations, including that Dr Hanson, who is not a psychotherapist, became friends with Beech, organised the Wall of Silence childhood sexual abuse survivors event with him, gave unjustified credibility and legitimacy to his claims, and therefore shared responsibility for ruining the reputations of blameless public figures who were investigated in the context of Operation Midland and for “wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on police investigations”.
A Statement in Open Court read in the High Court today, 3 March 2021, made it clear that the allegations levelled against Dr Hanson were untrue and should never have been published.
The statement can be downloaded from the ‘Files‘ link below.
5RB’s Adam Speker QC and David Hirst acted for Dr Hanson instructed by Nigel Tait and Mathilde Groppo of Carter-Ruck.