Millionaire author loses poison pen letter libel case against his primary ... trends now
A multi-millionaire author has lost a poison pen letter libel case against his friend from primary school in the latest step in a long and bitter legal battle that has divided a sleepy Lake District town.
Former maths teacher Richard Parsons, 58, amassed a £115million fortune through his CGP exam revision guides which are poured over by GCSE and A-Level pupils across Britain.
Mr Parsons has been at the forefront of a libel case against residents of Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria - which has a population of less than 600 - who he says have read malicious lies about him within the community.
Mr Parsons accused Douglas Atkinson a former friend from primary school of reading out one of the defamatory letters, which included several untrue allegations that he harmed the community with his 'greed and selfishness', the High Court in London heard.
The letter also falsely said the author had made 'many unethical business dealings', that he treated staff 'appallingly', and that he cheated on his wife by having 'adulterous relationships with their live-in housemaid and a vulnerable single woman'.
Multi-millionaire author Richard Parsons (pictured), 58, has lost a poison pen letter libel case against his friend from primary school in the latest step in a long and bitter legal battle that has divided a sleepy Lake District town
Mr Parsons accused Douglas Atkinson (pictured) a former friend from primary school of reading out one of the defamatory letters, which included several untrue allegations that he harmed the community with his 'greed and selfishness', the High Court in London heard
It also claimed that Mr Parsons exploited a vulnerable woman by providing her with accommodation if she would have sex with him, The Times reports.
Mr Parsons is married to his wife Kyra, they have two children together and live in an apartment in the 14th Century Broughton Tower Castle.
Mr Parsons was brought up in Cumbria and, after studying physics at Oxford University, returned there to work as a maths teacher.
But he made his fortune after deciding the GCSE revision guides available at the time were not good enough and that he could do better.
He quit teaching in 1995 and began writing his first manuscript, which was later published through his own company, Coordination Group Publications (CGP).
By the end of 2009, his 600 titles had sold over nine million books, grossing over £48million.
CGP was valued at £120million in 2019, giving Mr Parsons, who owns 95 per cent of the shares, a net worth of £114million.
He also owns a petrol station and leisure centre in Broughton-on-Furness, Cumbria, where he lives with his wife and two children, as well as land including that farmed by the Garnetts.
A family of tenant farmers were first sued by Mr Parsons after letters comparing him to Hollywood sex predator Harvey Weinstein and Prince Andrew were shared in the town.
He claimed the Garnetts launched a campaign of harassment against him from 2018, first with an anonymous letter which said: 'Once upon a time. There was a tw*t. It was you. The end.'
Elizabeth Garnett, 54, and husband Allan, 57, and their daughter Katie Armistead at first said they intended to defend against the claim in court but the case was settled in 2022 without a
