Singer Shirley Bassey yesterday won a bitter court battle with her former assistant who claimed the star sacked her after a drunken row. Ms Hilary Levy (44) quickly left Brentford County Court, in west London, after the judge ruled her employment contract had not been breached by Bassey.
Ms Levy, who had worked for Bassey for 15 years, claimed she was fired after Bassey slapped her and called her a "Jewish bitch".
During the two-day court hearing, Ms Levy alleged she had been asking for a few hours off the next day after a late-night dinner when the heated argument broke out at a hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1993. But in a one-hour judgment, Judge Marcus Edwards said Ms Levy's evidence had been "unpersuasive" and "confused".
In contrast, he said the testament given by Bassey, who rose to international stardom from humble origins in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, was "straightforward and honest".
Dressed in a fur-trimmed brown leather coat and matching beret, Bassey fought back tears outside the court as she described her reaction to her former friend's allegations.
She said: "It has been a matter of considerable distress to me that someone with whom I had enjoyed a close working relationship should have taken this action.
"I have fought the case - regardless of cost - in order to defend my name and reputation, and in order to protect my career and as a point of principle."
The singer said the judgment vindicated her decision to fight the case. She said she is delighted that the matter was now ended.