fwd: Travolta's cult pays out over £150,000 over hate campaign

[LRH built my hotrod]

From: Chris Owen <chr...@lutefisk.demon.co.uk>
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: UK NEWS: Stars' cult pays out over GBP 150,000 over hate
campaign
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999
Message-ID: <Qnc7OCAv...@lutefisk.demon.co.uk>

[So who are the hatemongers now, eh? - C.O.]

DAILY EXPRESS, 8 June 1999

Stars' cult pays out over £150,000 over hate campaign

By Richard Palmer

The cult favoured by Hollywood stars is to pay £155,000 for harassing
a woman in a six-year campaign of hate.

Bonnie Woods became the Church of Scientology's target when she left
them and began counselling people who got caught up in religious
sects.

Now the church, whose followers include Tom Cruise and John Travolta,
has agreed to apologise in the High Court today for orchestrating the
dirty tricks campaign against Mrs Woods.

It will promise not to repeat allegations against her, under the terms
of the settlement of a libel action she brought against the church.

Mrs Woods, 49, from East Grinstead, Sussex, warned people about the
controversial activities of the church, which was accused of
brainwashing recruits and treating them like slaves.

In 1984 it was described as "corrupt, immoral, obnoxious, sinister and
dangerous" by High Court judge Mr Justice Latey, who said its founder,
L. Ron Hubbard, was a charlatan.

The cult, which claims to have 100,000 members in Britain, described
Mrs Woods as a "spreader of disinformation who has caused untold upset
among families".

In 1993 the cult issued leaflets denouncing her and then had a private
detective follow her. Demonstrators paraded outside the home she
shared with her husband Richard.

Their house was watched and details of the couple's background were
published in a Scientology newspaper distributed in East Grinstead.

The cult also gave free legal help to a woman creditor to sue Richard
Woods four years after his building firm went bust. As a result,
Bonnie Woods was declared bankrupt.

This morning, however, her nightmare will be over when lawyers for the
cult will read out a statement in open court regretting its actions
and agreeing to pay £55,000 damages and £100,000 costs.

Ian Thomas, a solicitor at the top London firm Allan & Overy said: "It
means that the Church of Scientology won't be allowed to repeat these
allegations without being found in contempt of court."

* John Travolta is to star in a Hollywood movie version of Battleship
[sic] Earth, a science fiction novel by Scientology founder L. Ron
Hubbard.

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