The extra €1million was because the jurors felt that the cross examination of Mr Kinsella by the company's lawyers was too aggressive. They believed barristers were trying too hard to discredit Mr Kinsella.
$13.8m libel payout for naked sleepwalker
A COMPANY boss who sleepwalked naked into a female colleague's bedroom has been awarded $13.8 million in damages.
The 10 million Euro ($A13.8 million) payout awarded to mining executive Donal Kinsella is the biggest libel award in Ireland's history
He had sued the mining company he worked for over a press release it put out in the aftermath of his late-night wanderings on a company trip to Africa, The Daily Mail reports.
Mr Kinsella's lawyers had told the court how the story had gone round the world and life had been made a misery for the married father of six ever since the 2007 incident.
A jury of seven men and four women returned their record-breaking verdict after three hours of deliberations.
Following the shock announcement, lawyers for mining company Kenmare Resources, headed by managing-director Michael Carvill, applied for an immediate stay on the award, branding it 'off the Richter scale'.
Even the usually unflappable Judge Eamon de Valera appeared to be stunned when the foreman for the 11 jurors handed the written decision to him.
The vastly experienced judge read the note carefully, paused and asked: 'Correct me if I'm mistaken... but you have awarded compensatory damages of €9million ]and aggravated damages of €1million.'
The extra €1million was because the jurors felt that the cross examination of Mr Kinsella by the company's lawyers was too aggressive. They believed barristers were trying too hard to discredit Mr Kinsella.
However, as onlookers exchanged gasps and looks of amazement, the only person in the courtroom who seemed to maintain a calm demeanour was the mining magnate himself.
Afterwards a still calm Mr Kinsella asked the Irish Daily Mail: 'Are you expected to jump up and dance around the place? That feeling hasn't come yet. It'll probably come later. The pall of suspicion that hung over my head for the last three years has been removed. It's a magnificent vindication.'
The jury had unanimously decided that Kenmare's press release - which did not detail the sleepwalking incident - had implied that Mr Kinsella had 'made inappropriate sexual advances to Deirdre Corcoran'.
They also concluded that the statement had been intended either to embarrass or put pressure on him in relation to his position in the company.
Mr Kinsella said: 'I am vindicated. My name is cleared,' adding that he felt elated by the outcome.
Read more at www.couriermail.com.au
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