Comedian Frankie Boyle wins £54,000 libel payout after being branded a racist by the Daily Mirror

High Court jury awards damages over article published in July last year

Article claimed Mr Boyle had been 'forced to quit' Mock The Week

Comedian, 40, reveals he will donate the money to charity

Comedian Frankie Boyle was awarded more than £54,000 damages today after a High Court jury found he had been libelled by a newspaper which had described him as 'racist'.



The jury concluded that Mr Boyle, 40, from Glasgow, had been defamed by the Daily Mirror.



After the verdict, the comedian gave a V-for-Victory sign on the court steps and revealed that he would be donating the money to charity.

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'Very happy': Comedian Frankie Boyle gives a 'V-for-Victory' sign as he leaves the High Court after being awarded more than £54,000 damages following his libel battle with the Daily Mirror

Mr Boyle said he had sued because he had always 'made a point' of being 'anti-racist'.



He had claimed that a Daily Mirror article published on July 19 last year defamed him by describing him as 'Racist comedian Frankie Boyle' and saying he had been 'forced to quit' BBC panel show Mock The Week.

Daily Mirror publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) defended the article, arguing that the 'racist' description was either true or 'honest comment on a matter of public interest'.



MGN also argued that the words 'forced to quit' did not mean that Mr Boyle had been sacked and were not defamatory.



But jurors ruled in Mr Boyle's favour after a week-long trial in London.



Action: Mr Boyle said he had sued because he had always 'made a point' of being 'anti-racist'

They awarded Mr Boyle £50,400 damages for the 'racist' assertion and a further £4,250 in relation to the claim that he was 'forced to quit' the BBC show.



Mr Boyle was also awarded legal costs, estimated to be in the region of £100,000.



During the hearing, the jury was shown a series of the comedian's jokes from Mock The Week and his Channel 4 show Tramadol Nights.



After the verdict, Mr Boyle tweeted: 'I'm very happy with the jury's decision and their unanimous rejection of the Mirror's allegation that I am a racist.



Donation: In messages posted on Twitter, Mr Boyle said he was 'very happy' with the jury's decision and would be giving his damages to charity

'Racism is still a very serious problem in society which is why I've made a point of always being anti-racist in my life and work and that's why I brought this action.'

MGN lawyers had told jurors that Mr Boyle was a 'racist comedian' who gratuitously exploited negative stereotypes of black people for 'cheap laughs'.



A barrister representing MGN, Ronald Thwaites QC, said the comedian was 'callous' and 'insensitive'.



He said jurors should not find in the comedian's favour but, if they did, they should show their 'contempt' by awarding damages of 45p - the price of a copy of the Daily Mirror.



Mr Boyle denied 'punctuating' material with racist references or making 'gratuitous' use of black people.



He told jurors that characters he played might express racist views, but he did not.



He said he actively campaigned against racism and parodied racists - and claimed that the Daily Mirror had 'misunderstood' the context of his use of language in jokes.



Mr Boyle's counsel, David Sherborne, told the court that the comedian's humour was 'deliberately challenging', and he would not have minded if his material had been called 'vile', 'tasteless' or 'offensive', because that 'went with the territory'.



But he did object to being called a 'racist', Mr Sherborne added.

Panel show: Frankie Boyle (top left) appeared on Mock The Week with fellow comedians Andy Parsons (top right), Hugh Dennis (bottom left), Dara O'Briain (centre) and Russell Howard (bottom right). A High Court jury found that the Daily Mirror had defamed him by reporting that he had been 'forced to quit' the programme

Scrutinised: During the hearing, the jury was shown a series of the comedian's jokes from Mock The Week and his Channel 4 show Tramadol Nights (pictured)