Harrods loses libel case

Harrods today lost its libel action over an article which it said equated it with the disgraced company Enron.

The top store was faced with a costs bill unofficially estimated at £500,000 after a jury's majority verdict at London's High Court.

Mr Justice Eady ordered that £40,000 should be paid within 14 days.

James Price QC, for Harrods Limited, had described the story which appeared in The Wall Street Journal on April 5, 2002 as an "extraordinary attack".

It referred to a press release issued by Harrods the day before April Fools' Day which said that the chairman would make an important announcement the next day about a "first come first served share option offer".

The information would be posted on Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed's personal web site, Alfayed.com until noon on April 1.

Anyone interested was invited to contact LOOF LIRPA at Harrods.

The Journal article, headed "The Enron of Britain?", referred to the "joke" and said that if Harrods ever went public "investors would be wise to question its every disclosure".

But Dow Jones and Company Inc denied libel.

Its counsel, Gavin Millar QC, argued that the reference which appeared in the online edition and the US edition - but not the European edition - was tongue in cheek and meant to be humorous.

The newspaper said publication in this country, with only 10 copies sent to subscribers, was virtually non-existent and did not injure Harrods' reputation.