Riley wins £50k in court over ‘serial abuser’ claim

Rachel Riley has been awarded £50,000 in damages after a political blogger libelled her as “serial abuser” who had bullied a teenager during an anti-semitism debate.

The Countdown presenter sued Mike Sivier after he published an article on his website in January 2019 that referred to a Twitter debate Riley, 36, took part in about anti-semitism in the Labour Party with a user who later identified herself as a 16-year-old girl.

Yesterday, Mrs Justice Steyn ruled in favour of Riley, granting her £50,000 in damages. She said she had “no hesitation” in finding that the claims of Riley being a “serial abuser [were] not even arguably true”.