A judge in London today ruled in favour of Mr Levi, who brought the action over comments made about him by Mr Bates, claiming he was 'persecuted'.

Following the judgment, Mr Bates, who was not present at today's hearing, was ordered to make an interim payment for legal costs of £400,000 while the total sum is calculated.

The 78-year-old was also refused permission to appeal but can apply directly to the Court of Appeal if he wishes to take the case further.

Judge Sir Charles Gray said the libel action arose out of events surrounding the acquisition of Leeds United Football Club by a consortium headed by Mr Bates in 2005.

Mr Levi, 65, from Leeds, sued over three articles written by the chairman in the Leeds United programme in 2006 and 2007 and a letter written to club members in August 2007.

His claim was that they contained "grave and offensive" libels which "seriously injured" his reputation. He said he was accused of being a "shyster" who had tried to blackmail the club over money.

Mr Bates denied libel but the judge ruled today he had failed in his defences of justification and fair comment.

The judge said the £50,000 damages he awarded was in respect of the three match programmes "where the defences failed".

Mr Levi's claim in relation to the letter failed as Sir Charles ruled this was covered by qualified privilege.

The judge listed a number of factors he had taken into account when calculating the damages, including the "gravity of the libels" which were "repeated on several occasions over a period of 10 months".

Another relevant factor was the fact "the publishees, principally supporters of the club, were persons whose esteem Mr Levi valued".

Mr Bates had "sought unsuccessfully to justify his statements about Mr Levi and continued to do so in a public trial lasting many days".

The judge added that, in assessing the damages, perhaps the most important factor of all was the "obvious distress and injury to Mr Levi's feelings caused by the libels".

He added: "In this regard I take account of the gratuitous inclusion in the second publication complained of, dated March 3 2007, of Mr Levi's home address in Leeds and the reference in the third publication complained of, dated March 10 2007, to his home telephone number being in the telephone book which was in effect an invitation to Leeds fans to pester Mr Levi."

During the nine-day trial last month, Simon Myerson QC, for Mr Levi, said he had been one of the members of a consortium - the Yorkshire Consortium - which bought the club about 10 months before Mr Bates's purchase and had "rescued it from demise".

He told the judge: "It is in October of 2006 that Mr Bates starts what we say is a campaign, or at least a course, of defamatory comment..."
One of the "vehicles" he used, said the QC, was his column in the club's programme.

Part of Mr Levi's case was that, in an article published in a programme in March 2007, entitled The Enemy Within, he was accused of blackmail, of being dishonourable and of making unscrupulous attempts to obtain money which had deterred investors in Leeds United.

The judge said the "sting" of one of the publications lay in the reference to Mr Levi as a "shyster".

"That term would in my judgment have been understood to mean that Mr Levi is someone who engages in sharp, disreputable and dishonest practices," said Sir Charles.

After the hearing, Mr Levi said: "I am happy. All I wanted to do was to clear my name and I have done."

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