High Court: U.K. Tabloid Defamed Man Branded 'Sex Offender'

Image via WikipediaBritish Sunday tabloid, the People, has been ordered to shell out 75,000 pounds ($117,941) to a man it erroneously alleged had raped a 14-year-old girl in the 1970s, The Guardian reported.

High Court Mr. Justice (David) Bean halved his originally intended damages award on Monday because the People publisher Mirror Group Newspapers promptly retracted the accusation and apologized for alleging the natural father of Baby P was a sex offender. Baby P's injury-riddled, bloody body was discovered in August 2007, in his mother's home, according to The Guardian article.

The plaintiff, whose name was withheld for legal reasons, was separated from the toddler's mother. The tabloid leveled its accusation against the plaintiff in a September 19, 2010, article entitled "Tortured to death as mum turned a blind eye."