Judge rejects Beckham libel claim

A US federal judge has dismissed David Beckham’s libel and slander lawsuit against In Touch magazine.

The England football star’s attorney vowed to appeal against the ruling and disprove the celebrity tabloid’s claims that Beckham cheated on his wife with a prostitute.

US District Judge Manuel Real threw out the lawsuit at a hearing in Los Angeles.

Beckham’s attorney, Richard Kendall, argued that In Touch failed to do basic checking that would have shown the athlete was not where the magazine claimed he was for the illicit rendezvous.

Real said the Los Angeles Galaxy star is a public figure and his attorneys had not shown the tabloid published the story with malice.

Elizabeth McNamara, an attorney for In Touch owner Bauer Publishing, says Real made the proper ruling.

Judge Real said in his ruling that allegations of any infidelity by Beckham would be of interest to the public.

Ms McNamara said the magazine did everything possible to corroborate details from the prostitute’s on-the-record interview. She told Judge Real that the woman’s account was “entirely consistent with Mr Beckham’s reputation as a serial philanderer”.

The magazine has not retracted the story.

Beckham sued In Touch in September and was seeking 25 million dollars (£15 million). The Los Angeles Galaxy star argued in a court filing in January that he was visiting his ailing father in London during one of the alleged trysts with the purported call girl, Irma Nici.

Mr Kendall said a basic investigation by the magazine would have shown that Beckham was elsewhere when the alleged trysts occurred. He asked the judge to allow the case to proceed so that he could conduct depositions that would bolster Beckham’s case, but Judge Real refused.

“We were left with two hands tied behind our back for the purposes of this motion,” Mr Kendall said after the hearing.

He said In Touch had taken specific steps to block its story from being seen in Beckham’s native England, where Mr Kendall said libel laws would have resulted in a quicker resolution to the case in the star’s favour.

“Obviously, we’re pleased,” Ms McNamara said after the hearing. “We think the court followed the law and did the correct thing.”