Rowan wins big damages pay-out

Rowan Atkinson has received 'substantial' damages over newspaper stories that wrongly claimed he was on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

The allegations are expected to cost the owners of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday a six-figure sum, once legal costs are taken into account.

Associated Newspapers was also forced to issue a public apology following the settlement in London's High Court.

Atkinson said he would be giving the money to a mental health charity.

He said: "Although these ludicrous, hurtful and irresponsible allegations have been successfully refuted, their publication was indicative of a continuing sensationalising and stigmatising of the issue of mental health, and of the condition of depression in particular - from which I am fortunate enough never to have suffered."

The claims, described by Atkinson's lawyers as "quite ludicrous" first surfaced in The Mail on Sunday in December under the headline: Why Mr Bean fears he's a has been.

The paper falsely alleged that Atkinson, 49, had checked into a clinic and that his problems were affecting his work.

Published: 22 Apr 2004