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The libel action brought by Daily Express owner Richard Desmond against writer Tom Bower was dramatically halted today.
On the second day of the hearing the jury was discharged and a new trial will start with a fresh jury next week. High Court judge Mr Justice Eady told jurors that he had to discharge them as a result of important legal submissions.
Mr Desmond had sued over claims in Mr Bower's 2006 unauthorised biography of Conrad Black — Conrad and Lady Black: Dancing on the Edge — that he had abused his position and then been forced into a humiliating climb-down by Black.
Ian Winter QC said the allegations were defamatory and wholly false. Mr Bower denies libel.
