David Eady Appeal for his conduct during the 2009 libel case involving Richard Desmond and Tom Bower. Eady disallowed several pieces of evidence against Desmond which the Appeal Court ruled were clearly relevant to the case. The Court of Appeal judges ruled that Eady's decision was "plainly wrong" and "might lead to a miscarriage of justice". After hearing the evidence, the jury found in favour of Bower. In December 2009, Eady commented in "The Guardian" on some of this criticism, saying that "The media have nowhere to vent their frustrations other than through personal abuse of the particular judge who happens to
Tom Bower article published in America, by the magazine "The New Republic", on the basis that it had 136 British subscribers. Bower also believes that Maxwell tried to break into his house and also went through his phone records and bank statements. In 2000, Richard Branson sued Bower for libel over an article he had written for the London "Evening Standard" in 1999. Branson chose not to sue the paper, but its editor, Max Hastings, agreed the newspaper would fund Bower's defence. Branson lost the case, and later expressed regret at bringing the action. Bower continues to write articles critical of Branson's