Baroness Bra’s £50,000 bill for using race slur
CONSERVATIVE peer Michelle Mone has settled a High Court claim for racial abuse after calling a man of Indian heritage a ‘waste of a white man’s skin’.
The Mail on Sunday understands the lingerie tycoon, who founded the Ultimo brand which earned her the nickname Baroness Bra, has paid more than £50,000 in settling the claim brought by Monacobased financial consultant Richard Lynton-Jones.
Lawyers for the Glasgowborn baroness said that when she made the comment in a WhatsApp message in 2019 she believed Mr Lynton-Jones was ‘100 per cent white and British’ and there was ‘no trace whatsoever of non-white colouring or any features’. Last year the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation and in January Mr Lynton-Jones sued her for libel. While the criminal investigation was dropped, Lady Mone has now settled the civil claim, which stems from a row over the death of a deckhand in 2019 while Lady Mone and Mr Lynton-Jones were staying on the French Riviera. Lady Mone was on her billionaire husband Doug Barrowman’s yacht, Minx, while Mr Lynton-Jones was a guest on Vision, a yacht chartered by British internet gaming millionaire Richard Skelhorn.
The two groups of passengers had sailed to Ile Sainte-Marguerite for lunch, before rafting their yachts together, hopping on and off each other’s boats. But on the journey home, Vision accidentally ploughed into Mr Barrowman’s boat, striking and killing a British deckhand, 27-year-old Jake Feldwhere.
In a group chat between passengers three weeks later, Lady Mone, 50, unleashed her fury on Mr Lynton-Jones. She described him as a ‘waste of a man’s white skin’ – a phrase believed to have originated in South Africa in the 1940s. Lady Mone also aimed her ire at Mr Lynton-Jones’s fiancée, calling her a ‘mental loony’ and ‘nut case bird’.
Mr Lynton-Jones, whose mother is believed to be of Indian heritage, demanded at least £200,000 in aggravated damages from Lady Mone. He said: ‘I’ve done nothing wrong apart from be a victim of racism. Racism has no place in this society, let alone for a member of the House of Lords. That’s disgusting.’
Lady Mone’s lawyers denied she was racist. Her spokesman said: ‘Both parties have settled their differences on a no fault or damages basis in relation to the alleged racist claim and the matter is now concluded.’
Lady Mone and her husband are subject to an ongoing criminal investigation into their links to a company, PPE Medpro, which received £200 million to provide the NHS with personal protective equipment during the pandemic.
Both deny any wrongdoing.