Labour's shadow justice secretary has won £30,000 in libel damages against The Sun over claims a heavy metal band he performed with used Nazi imagery.

Richard Burgon took High Court action over an article from April 2017 that said he had joined a Leeds band that "delights in Nazi symbols".

It claimed an image tweeted by the outfit Dream Troll appeared to use the lightning bolt "S" from the logo of notorious Nazi paramilitary organisation the SS.

Mr Burgon claimed it was a "spoof" of Black Sabbath's 1975 album We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'n' Roll.

The Leeds East MP called the article "highly defamatory, false and unfair".


The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and political editor Tom Newton Dunn argued the image was "strongly reminiscent of Nazi iconography".

They said Mr Burgon had "demonstrated terrible misjudgment and exposed himself to ridicule".

After the ruling, Mr Burgon said he was "delighted" at the news and would use the money to fund a paid justice internship for a young person from Leeds.

A spokesperson for The Sun said it was "deeply disappointed" by the ruling and would be appealing.

They voiced fears the decision "may act as a brake on the ability of the free press to hold those in power to account".