Troll image taken from Facebook, albeit without the hashtag “Black Sabbath” above
the top left hand corner].
49.
Mr Tenwick said that the print circulation for the hard copy article was 1,941,612 of
which 1,584,796 were published in England and Wales.
50.
Mr Newton Dunn said he thought that the story merited a higher ranking in the
newspaper but also made the fair comment that every journalist would like to see their
stories on the front cover.
Matters following publication
51.
Mr Burgon said that the likely damage from the online publication was obvious. Mr
Burgon said he found reading the article extremely unpleasant, feeling angry at the
injustice of a story with such a serious allegation. There was nothing humorous or
light-hearted about the article as was later suggested by News Group. Mr Burgon
considered that Mr Newton Dunn was intending to smear him to cause maximum
damage and that the article suited News Group’s political narrative, noting that Mr
Livingstone had been suspended from the Labour Party and there had been calls for
his expulsion.
52.
Mr Burgon said he feared for his safety and received an email on 20 April 2017 which
said “Kill yourself … anti-English, anti-British … fucking traitor”. It was suggested
to him that this email was more likely to have been caused by a Mail Online article
dated 16 April 2017 about Mr Burgon which was headlined “Jeremy Corbyn’s justice
chief, 36, poses with his `lawbreaker’ lover, 26 who believes religious extremists
should have the right to break the law”. The Mail Online article referred to the fact
that Mr Burgon was a republican and that he had spoken at the Leeds branch of the
Communist party celebrating the 1917 Russian Revolution. I am unable to find that
the anonymous email sent to Mr Burgon was sent as a result of the article which is the
subject of this claim because it might have been sent by someone who had read the
Mail Online article or by someone whose motivation for sending the email is
unknown.
53.
Mr Burgon said he was very distressed by the publication of the Sun online article.
He had broad shoulders but said that there were limits. He said he was not a litigious
person but he was genuinely hurt and distressed. Mr Burgon said he feared for his
safety while performing his constituency duties and campaigning and took security
measures. I accept this evidence.
54.
Mr Burgon said that the article also would cause him financial loss in that he might
not be re-elected, and might not get appointed to ministerial office or be invited to
social events.
55.
On 19 May 2017 Dream Troll released an album “The Knight of Rebellion” which
featured the song. The album cover did not use the Dream Troll image.
56.
There was a general election which was called shortly after publication of the article.