- Sunday, June 04, 2023
By: Chandrashekar Bhat
A FINANCIAL consultant of Indian origin has demanded “unlimited damages” from Conservative peer Michelle Mone following a “racist remark” she allegedly made more than two years ago.
Richard Lynton-Jones sued her with a 10-page writ, claiming her remarks caused “enormous distress, embarrassment and injury to his feelings.”
His lawyers sought at least £200,000 in “aggravated damages” from the Scottish lingerie tycoon.
The legal battle unfolded as the London Metropolitan Police launched an investigation last week after a complaint from the Monaco-based financial consultant that she called him “a waste of a man’s white skin”.
Baroness Mone made the alleged racist remarks after a young crew member was killed in an accident involving a yacht and boat in Cannes in May 2019.
She accused him and his partner of partying “without remorse” after the incident.
“You & your mental loony of a girlfriend have been parting like mad! … Your a low life, a waste of a mans white skin so don’t give us your lies. Your a total disgrace (sic),” she said in her alleged WhatsApp messages sent to Lynton-Jones.
“Now you deal with the police enquiries including your nut case bird”.
Lynton-Jones replied to her outburst, reminding her comments were racist. He denied he was remorseless about the death and accused her of telling lies to defend herself after she claimed she was unaware of his heritage.
Lynton-Jones, son of an Indian-origin mother and a white father, complained to the Met Police and the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards and the Committee on Standards in Public Life, before moving the High Court in London.
His lawyers said that an Instagram post – which was seen by ‘many millions’ – had “caused serious harm to the claimant’s personal and professional reputation”, according to a Mail Online report.
“The defendant’s publication of the article has caused the claimant enormous distress, embarrassment and injury to feelings,” the writ said.
Baroness Mone, 50, had earlier questioned in an Instagram post as to how calling out a man on his actions “after a manslaughter and his entitled white privilege” constitute racism.
She said she will “vigorously” contest the writ, which she claimed, “lacked merit”.
Her representatives denied the peer is a racist and pointed out that she and her husband built more than 15 schools in Africa in the past three years.
Lynton-Jones, from Ferndown in Dorset had worked for Barclays Wealth in Jersey and Monaco before joining investment bank UBS.
