Fernandes wins libel case against Mail on Sunday

Settlement: newspaper accepts solicitor was not insulting.

Law Society Council member Maria Fernandes - wife of Leicester MP Keith Vaz - has favourably settled a libel case against the Mail on Sunday.Ms Fernandes, who represents ethnic minorities on the council, brought the action over the newspaper's Black Dog gossip column, which last year suggested that she was abusive, insulting and rude, both on the telephone to a car dealer, and in person to someone sent to assist with a faulty car lock.Mr Vaz and Ms Fernandes were said to have bought a car from former Tory MP John Carlisle, and the article alleged that Ms Fernandes was unable to start the car, and was rude and insulting when she tried to rectify the situation.A statement read out in court by Ms Fernandes's lawyer, solicitor-advocate David Price, said the article had caused Ms Fernandes 'very considerable hurt and upset'.It went on: 'She is a respected professional.

She was concerned to see an article of this nature published in a national newspaper with a large and influential circulation.'The statement said the Mail on Sunday now accepted that the facts underlying the story were false.

No car had ever been bought from Mr Carlisle, no telephone conversation had taken place, and Ms Fernandes was not rude or insulting.

The Mail on Sunday had agreed to pay 'substantial' damages, plus Ms Fernandes' legal costs.Ms Fernandes, a partner in Harrow-based Fernandes Vaz, said: 'I'm relieved that it's over but still very angry about the way the paper dealt with it.'Jeremy Fleming