BY JOE JENKINS
VICTORIA GILLICK told the Catholic Herald this week of her "enormous relief" at the conclusion of her seven-year battle with the BBC.
The Court of Appeal last week agreed that Susan Pearce, an agony aunt, had libelled her on a 1989 television pro-gramme. Ms Pearce suggested that Mrs Gillick had inspired the suicides of two pregnant teenagers with her anti
contraception campaign. Mrs Gillick was awarded a five-figure settlement and costs. She said: "It is a hideous thing to have hanging over your head. I was very determined that the lie should be nailed."
On The Garden Party, a programme about the Brook Advisory Service, Mrs Gillick, a mother of 10, described the Brook Advisory Service, which advises women on contraceptive issues, as "a total disaster". She was sued by the Brook, but could not afford a barrister. Mrs Gillick issued a writ on Ms Pearce, who the BBC defended. The Brook later dropped its action. A week after the programme, she spoke at the Liverpool University student union, where she was branded a "murderess". In the melee, the president of the union had his finger broken. Mrs Gillick said: "It left me very frightened."