Hamiltons will return to libel court over rape claims
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Your support makes all the difference.Neil and Christine Hamilton will sue the woman who accused them of sexual assault for libel, their solicitor said last night.
"I am able to confirm that a High Court writ for libel was today issued against Miss Nadine Milroy-Sloan by Mr and Mrs Hamilton and at this time we are in the process of serving court proceedings upon her," Michael Coleman said.
It was not clear whether the writ also names Max Clifford, the publicist who brokered Ms Milroy-Sloan's story.
The twice-divorced mother of four claims that she was raped by Barry Lehaney at his council bedsit in Ilford in Essex on 5 May while the Hamiltons sexually assaulted her.
Ms Milroy-Sloan, 27, a trainee college lecturer from Grimsby, allowed her right of anonymity to be waived last weekend in an interview with News of the World, for which she is believed to have been paid about £75,000.
She was questioned by detectives for several hours earlier this week amid reports that the police investigation was close to collapse.
The Hamiltons have strenuously proclaimed their innocence since the allegations were first made against them, with Christine Hamilton memorably referring to the claims as "nonsense on stilts".
Mr Hamilton, the bankrupt former Conservative trade minister and MP for Tatton in Cheshire, said: "She went to the police on 6 May, the day after she says the attack took place, and yet could not remember at what time an attack took place."
The Hamiltons claim to have eight independent witnesses who can attest that Mr Hamilton was at Claridge's in central London at about 6.30pm.
This would have made it impossible for the couple to have been in Ilford at 5pm, the time when the rape is alleged to have happened.
Checks on Mrs Hamilton's mobile telephone records have confirmed that she was in West London, 13 miles from the council flat, on the evening of the alleged attack.
The Hamiltons have previously threatened to take legal action against Ms Milroy- Sloan, but until now have not followed up their threats with actions.
Mr Hamilton said earlier: "If she is not to be prosecuted for a criminal offence I will be astonished.
"I believe that in taking the action she has done, she has committed some serious criminal offences."
Mr Lehaney, 60, who is alleged to have carried out the rape, has also firmly denied the accusations.
He says that as an arthritis and asthma sufferer, it would have been physically impossible for him to have attacked Ms Milroy-Sloan.
Mr Clifford, who was approached by Ms Milroy-Sloan about her claims before they were made public, said: "The Hamiltons are so farcical and entertaining, it is easy to forget that there is a serious allegation at the heart of this."
Scotland Yard has not yet closed the investigation.
Police sources said it was likely that their inquiries would result in a file being passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, whose lawyers could take some weeks before deciding whether to bring charges against the couple.
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