A FAMILY who directed a long-running campaign of harassment against a millionaire company boss have been ordered to pay tens of thousands of pounds in damages.

CGP boss Richard Parsons was the target of ‘poison pen’ letters across two years which made a number of ‘deeply unpleasant’ and false allegations against him.

The former maths teacher turned author and publisher sued Elizabeth Garnett, her husband Allan, and their daughter Katie Armistead for harassment and libel.

The Garnetts had been long-standing tenant farmers of Mr Parsons, with a history of ‘friction and grievance’ between them, according to High Court documents.

Legal action was launched after a series of anonymous ‘poison pen’ letters surfaced in Broughton – where CGP’s head office is located - between 2018 and 2020.

The letters made a number of ‘deeply unpleasant and false allegations’ directed at CGP’s chairman.

Mr Parsons, who lives in Broughton with his wife and two children, suspected the Garnetts were to blame, leading him to issue harassment and libel proceedings against the family.

Mr Parsons said the letters caused him ‘serious reputational harm’, the court heard.

According to court documents, ‘unpleasant and abusive’ anonymous communications alleged Mr Parsons to be an adulterer, sexual exploiter and predatory abuser of vulnerable women.

Mrs Justice Collins Rice said the harassment was ‘persistent… involved unpleasant and humiliating allegations published to those close to Mr Parsons, involved his wife and children, threatened further publication and, especially, that in classic anonymous poison-pen style it left him wondering and worrying about its origins and extent, and about the future turns the campaign might take.’

The judge said it was accepted that all allegations against Mr Parsons, who made a £115million fortune from best-selling GCSE study guides, were ‘false and defamatory’.

Mr Parsons launched legal action against the Garnetts earlier this year.

The family had planned to fight the allegations but their solicitors later said they would not defend the claim and simply wished the proceedings be ‘brought to an end’.

Lawyers for Mr Parsons this week asked for default judgment to be entered in his favour against all three defendants for libel and Mr and Mrs Garnett for harassment.

Granting him default judgment and damages, the judge said the case was unusual because the Garnetts had submitted no 'pleaded case' on the claim or the application for default judgment.

Although the judgment does not amount to a finding that they did what was alleged, the judge ordered Mr and Mrs Garnett to pay £8,000 damages jointly for libel, plus £12,000 for harassment, and Mrs Armistead to pay £2,000 in libel damages.

She also ordered the defendants to pay £45,000 on account of Mr Parsons' legal costs The judge also granted strict injunctions against Mr and Mrs Garnett against further defamation or harassment of Mr Parsons.

A spokeswoman for CGP said: “Although litigation against other parties who became involved in defaming Mr Parsons is still ongoing, this judgment represents a very good outcome, and the court’s declaration of falsity is clear.  CGP would like the outcome of this case to bring something positive to the local community by reducing this kind of behaviour.”