PRESS RELEASE: EWN vindicated as case thrown out of court

A CASE against publisher of the Euro Weekly News Michel Euesden has been thrown out of court after a judge decided it had no merit.
Marco Baiardo – publisher of The Weekender Newspaper – had gone to court after a social media exchange in which Mrs Euesden had defended the integrity of her family and business following a series of highly personal and offensive posts made by Baiardo.
These followed a business deal gone sour in which Baiardo walked away with thousands of Euros, and subsequently set up his own newspaper, breaking written agreements he had made with the EWN Media Group.
Since then he has continued to make misleading statements about the integrity of the EWN Media Group – and Mrs Euesden and her family – in a campaign that has been viewed as intimidatory.
Baiardo pursued a case against Mrs Euesden after she reproduced some remarks made by actor Patrick Murray – who played Mickey Pearce in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses – about Mr Baiardo’s honesty.
He was invited to Spain to help fundraise for local charity Busy Bees. Baiardo, accompanied by Mr Murray  – to whom no blame is attached – encouraged well-wishers to put money in collection buckets.
According to Mr Murray’s account, it was later found that the seals had been broken. A criminal investigation was filed by Busy Bees in the Courts of Benidorm, but the case was dismissed as it couldn’t be proved.
Despite bringing a large legal team, Baiardo was unable to convince a judge in Villajoyosa that there was any basis for his bid to claim damages.
The judge therefore dismissed the case.
Speaking after the decision Mrs Euesden said: “This is a complete vindication of not just myself, but also the EWN Media Group.
“I fully expected the case to be thrown out as it had no merit. In my opinion it was merely an attempt to gain money from what was a Facebook comment replying to particularly nasty and personal abuse directed at family members.”
She added: “I would like to thank all my friends and clients of EWN Media Group who have steadfastly supported myself and the business despite unfounded allegations directed at us by Baiardo.
“These would appear to have been aimed at affecting our business, in particular our relationships with clients, many of whom have been with us for years.”
Mrs Euesden went on to say: “We are proud to note that our business has remained resilient despite what has in effect been a campaign of smears by Baiardo. This is thanks to our many clients who know what we stand for – service and integrity.”