JK Rowling 'vindicated' over Mail article

JK Rowling sued the Daily Mail over an article published in September 2013

JK Rowling feels "fully vindicated and her reputation restored" after the Daily Mail's apology to the author was read out in London's High Court.

A 2013 article suggested Rowling had told a false "sob story" about being stigmatised by churchgoers in the '90s.

The Mail printed an apology and paid substantial damages to Rowling in May 2014, but challenged Rowling's right to give a court statement about the case.

Last week the Court of Appeal dismissed the newspaper's objections.

It paved the way for Thursday's unilateral statement, which was read out by solicitor Keith Schilling on behalf of Rowling, as part of the libel settlement.

During her successful libel case, the author said the newspaper's story was "premised on a false picture" of an article she had written 10 days earlier for single parents' charity Gingerbread.

'Immense gratitude'

The two-page statement reiterated that Rowling "did not at any point criticise or complain about her treatment at the hands of fellow churchgoers.

"She had in fact spoken about her time working at the local church with immense gratitude."

Mr Schilling said: "Following publication of the article, the claimant, through her solicitors, wrote to the defendant requesting only that the online article be removed and a sufficient apology published.

"The defendant refused to remove the article or apologise and denied that the article was even capable of defaming the claimant for several months."

The statement concluded the newspaper allegations left the author "understandably distressed" but she was now happy to bring her libel proceedings to a close.