George Peter St Clare and his company, Synergen Eood, which trades as Albany Properties in Bulgaria, have won damages and an apology in London’s high court over an April 2007 story in the Daily Express.

According to a July 21 2008 report by pressgazette.co.uk, the action arose from an article headlined “Nightmare for Britons buying their dream homes abroad”.

Kate Wilson, appearing for St Clare and his company, told the court that the article had said dozens of UK nationals were the victims of unscrupulous estate agents in Bulgaria.

Wilson said, according to pressgazette.co.uk: “To illustrate the generalisation that scores of Britons attempting to buy their dream property had been duped by unscrupulous estate agents, the defendants used, as the only example in the article, details of a property deal that had taken place between the claimants and a British couple looking to purchase property in Bulgaria. Both of the claimants were named in the article as having had a disagreement with the British couple over the extent of land included in the sale.

“The defendants’ article went on to allege that, in relation to the disagreement over the sale, thugs had been pressuring them to leave the country and that they had had their property set on fire.

“The statements bore a clear meaning that the claimants had been responsible for hiring thugs to intimidate the couple and had set their property on fire as a consequence of having fallen out over the deal.

“Further, the defendants regret that the article went on to suggest that the claimants’ activities were consistent with the mafia-style lawlessness prevalent in Bulgaria.”

Wilson said that the allegations had proved immensely damaging to both the claimants – Synergen Eeod whose business goodwill had suffered, and St Clare whose personal and professional reputation has been acutely damaged.

“The defendants have accepted that these allegations are false and defamatory and ought never to have been published.”

Wilson said that the newspaper had agreed to publish an apology, remove the article from its website, and pay the claimants damages as well as their legal costs.

Victoria Shore, for the defendants, said: “Through me, the defendants apologise to the claimants for any distress and embarrassment caused to them by the article and welcome this opportunity to set the record straight.”

According to an article that appearing on pressgazette.co.uk earlier this year, St Clare and his company issued writ in the high court seeking “unlimited damages of more than 300 000 pounds for libel. They are also seeking damages after the original allegations were repeated on the internet”.