Daily Star pays out for false GTA story
Rockstar wins after GTA Rothbury claim.
Rockstar Games has accepted substantial damages after the Daily Star newspaper made up a false Raoul Moat story.
The Star, owned by Richard Desmond's Express Newspapers, published libellous accusations when it claimed that Rockstar planned to launch a GTA game based on gunman Raoul Moat.
The paper made up a game called Grand Theft Auto Rothbury and claimed it would be based on the Northumberland shootings.
The Star even went to a grieving relative of one of Moat's victims for a response to the fictional title.
In the article the paper said the people behind the production of the game were "questionable idiots" who were making money out of other people's misery. It published a lengthy apology soon after, but by then the damage, for many, had been done.
Take 2's lawyer told the ruling judge that the Daily Star failed to contact the publisher before running the story, according to a report from The Guardian.
She said: "The defendant now accepts that Rockstar Games never had any intention to create such a video game at any time. The story was entirely false."
The amount of money paid to Rockstar was undisclosed, but we do know Express was ordered to pay Rockstar's legal costs. A spokesperson for the media group apologised for the upset and damage caused. It described the incident as a mistake.