Polanski wins £50,000 in 'Vanity Fair' case

Roman Polanski has won £50,000 in libel damages in his case against the publishers of Vanity Fair magazine.

Roman Polanski has won £50,000 in libel damages in his case against the publishers of Vanity Fairmagazine.

The film director sued Conde Nast for a July 2002 article that alleged he tried to seduce a woman in a New York restaurant on his way to his murdered wife's funeral in 1969, using Sharon Tate's name to help him succeed.

Vanity Fairadmitted the article was inaccurate because Mr Polanski has proved he could not have been in the restaurant until weeks after Ms Tate's burial.

Summing up yesterday, Vanity Fair's lawyer, Thomas Shields, had sought to show Mr Polanski had no reputation to damage in the first place and was quite capable of acting as he was alleged to have done.