Security News > 2020 > July > UKIP blackmail, data breach sueball allegations were groundless, rules High Court

A lawsuit alleging that ex-UKIP leader Richard Braine took part in blackmail and data breaches has been all but thrown out of the High Court as a judge said it was "Without any proper and sound evidential foundation".

Amid rival political factions struggling for control of the right-wing party - which launched Nigel Farage's political career before the televisually omnipresent Brexiteer split off to form his own movement - Braine was accused of illicitly accessing party figures' email accounts and the party membership database.

High Court judge Mr Justice Saini dismissed almost all of UKIP's claims earlier this month because they did not have "a realistic prospect of success", also ruling that the party had "Failed to establish even the bare bones of an evidential inferential case" that Braine was behind a claimed blackmail attempt.

After the NEC suspended various party figures, Braine suspended the NEC and ordered Dent to enter party HQ and take control of Office 365 email accounts and the party's Mailchimp system.

As for the database claim, UKIP relied on Braine having been suspended as party leader to claim that he had broken the law when he instructed Dent to access Office 365 and give him access to Mailchimp.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/07/27/ukip_data_breach_blackmail_allegs_groundless/