Policemen win pay-out over TV libel

THREE POLICEMEN who were accused in a television programme of fabricating evidence against a prisoner charged with the brutal killing of his cell-mate left court yesterday with their reputations restored after a libel settlement believed to total around pounds 2m.

Granada Television apologised and agreed to pay "substantial" damages - thought to be pounds 100,000 to each officer - plus their estimated pounds 1.2m legal costs, over allegations in a World in Action programme broadcast in April 1992. It is possibly the biggest settlement by a television company.

The High Court in London heard that Sgt Peter Bleakley and PC Emlyn Welsh, and former PC Paul Giles were caused "very great distress" and damage to their reputations by what they saw as a suggestion that they were involved in a cover-up to hide the fact that Patrick Quinn - who was beaten to death at Hammersmith police station, west London, on Christmas Eve 1990 - was killed by a police officer.

The programme said the officers perjured themselves at the trial of Mr Quinn's cell-mate, Malcolm Kennedy, leading to his murder conviction. Kennedy's conviction was quashed on appeal, but at a retrial was convicted of manslaughter.

Granada Television said it accepted "without reservation that the officers did not lie or commit perjury and were in no way involved in any falsification of evidence or in misleading the court at any stage".

n In our story yesterday, we wrongly suggested that the World in Action programme used evidence from a Police Complaints Authority inquiry. In fact the inquiry, which reported after the programme was shown, found no evidence to suggest that any officer, or anyone other than Mr Kennedy, was responsible for killing Mr Quinn. We should also point out that Mr Giles did not seek more in damages than his colleagues.