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Dragons' Den creator wins damages

The creator the television show Dragons’ Den has won £70,000 in damages after news reports wrongly alleged he was guilty of downloading child pornography.

A report filed by the Press Association inaccurately identified a defendant at Southwark Crown Court accused of downloading illegal images as Martyn Smith, creator of the BBC2 business programme.

The Press Association apologised to Smith, a Bafta-nominated TV director and agreed to pay him substantial damages at the High Court in London for the blunder.

The actual defendant involved in the Southwark case was a different Martyn Smith, who had worked as a BBC producer but had no "professional or personal relationship" with his namesake, the court was told.

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