Six-time champion jockey Kieren Fallon won undisclosed libel damages and a public apology at London's High Court today over News of the Worldallegations that he attacked a fellow jockey.
Mr Justice Eady was told that the article headed "I'll Sue Fallon, Jockey Vows After Champ's Attack" related to a locker-room incident at Beverley Racecourse in September 1994 and included claims that the Irish jockey had been at the head of a "weighing-room mafia".
Fallon's lawyer, Andrew Monson, told the judge: "The article repeated a claim previously made by fellow jockey Stuart Webster that the claimant had made an unprovoked attack on him in the locker room at Beverley, viciously head-butting him and punching him repeatedly in the face.
"This followed the claimant pulling Mr Webster from his horse at the end of the previous race.
Mr Webster accused the claimant of being at the head of a weighing-room mafia and implied he had used his influence to discourage witnesses from giving evidence in support of Mr Webster at an inconclusive Jockey Club inquiry into the incident."
Mr Monson said that the article said Webster was now suffering from short-term memory loss as a result of blows he had received to his head during his riding career, and alleged that blows inflicted on him by Fallon were "the worst".
He said it had never been disputed that there was an "altercation" in the locker room between the two men. But he said Fallon had acted in self-defence in the incident in which Webster received a broken nose but had not been prevented from riding again the same day.
He continued: "The claimant did not cause Mr Webster to sustain any brain damage. Consequently he is not responsible in whole or in part for Mr Webster's short-term memory loss condition."
The claimant did not discourage any jockeys from giving evidence on Mr Webster's behalf at the ensuing inquiry."
Mr Monson said the News of the Worldnow acknowledged the "falsity of the allegations" and had agreed to make a public apology and pay Fallon damages along with his legal costs.
Joanna Workman, the paper's lawyer, said : "The defendant specifically accepts that Mr Webster's unfortunate condition was not caused by or contributed to by the altercation that took place in the locker room at Beverley in September 1994.
The newspaper apologised to Fallon for the "distress and embarrassment which has been caused".