Van Morrison to sue over paternity claim

VAN MORRISON is to sue a newspaper over claims he fathered a child with a former tour manager.

Morrison issued a statement through his London-based solicitors, Russells, saying he was "reluctantly compelled" to make the statement in view of an article which appeared in the Mail on Sunday.

The claim first surfaced on his website on December 28th that a woman called Gigi Lee had given birth to a son, George Ivan Morrison III, who was described as the “spitting image of his daddy”. Three days later Morrison issued a statement saying his website had been hacked into and the claims were “completely and utterly without foundation”.

Morrison also said he was happily married to Michelle (née Rocca) Morrison and they had two children.

Despite this denial, the Mail on Sundayrepeated the allegation.

"There was no truth in the suggestion that I have recently become a father," Morrison said in yesterday's statement. "The Mailwere notified in advance that there was no factual basis for suggesting otherwise. I've been instructed by solicitors to institute immediate legal proceedings against the Mail on Sundayand I will take all appropriate action to prevent repetition of these allegations."

Initially, Morrison said he didn’t know Ms Lee but he has since said that was a mistake. She was a manager on his recent tour marking the 40th anniversary of Astral Weeks and is a director of 14 of his companies.