The Firm wins “Cambridge Analytica” claim for Rollo Gabb against The Times

Thomson Heath & Associates has successfully represented Rollo Gabb in his claim against The Times over allegations published in its newspaper, e-versions and on its website.

In the edition of The Times dated Wednesday the 21^st March 2018 the Times published a series of articles on Cambridge Analytica and the SCL Group, which it described as Cambridge Analytica’s parent company. On page 1, it published an article entitled British data firm offered £1m bribe to turn election which continued on page 8 under the headline, Pressure on Facebook over ‘failure to protect information’; on page 8 an article entitled, Company said its hackers could control the web; on pages 8-9 an article entitled, Data firm accused of exploiting ethnic tensions to swing voters; and on page 9 an article entitled, Group’s founders were connected to royalty, the rich and powerful together with a photograph of the Claimant. These articles were also published in the App edition of the Times and on the Times website, with links encouraging readers to read other articles published by the Times about the Cambridge Analytica scandal and SCL Groups founders.

Mr Gabb complained about the articles, in particular, that he was wrongly named as one of the people who founded and ran Cambridge Analytica and the SCL Group and had therefore caused or permitted Cambridge Analytica to engage in scandalous and unlawful activities. These claims were completely untrue and seriously defamatory of Mr Gabb.

Finally, after almost 2 years of hard-fought litigation, The Times has now accepted that Mr Gabb has never been associated with Cambridge Analytica and has apologised for stating that he was. James Heath, Yinka McKay Wood and Maya Mills  have also secured a substantial payment of damages from the Times on behalf of Mr Gabb as well as his legal costs. You can read the apology here.

In January 2019, the team also obtained an apology and a significant payment of damages and costs on behalf of Rollo Gabb in relation to similar allegations published by the Daily Mail.

The Times’ apology marks the successful conclusion to Mr Gabb’s long fight to restore his reputation.

Thomson Heath & Associates specialises in all aspects of defamation and reputation management. Please click here to find out more information.