The youngest of the five men accused by the News of the World of plotting to kidnap Victoria Beckham today became the first of the group to begin legal proceedings against the newspaper.
David Price solicitors today wrote to the News International legal department claiming libel damages on behalf of 18-year-old Alin Turcu and giving the owner of the News of the World and the Sun 14 days to respond.
If the two sides fail to come to a settlement, the matter will go to the high court.
Mr Price said the kidnap article was "stage managed and nauseatingly self-congratulatory", adding Mr Turcu had been "devastated" by the experience and was "determined to clear his name".
Mr Turcu was one of five men accused by the News of the World of plotting to kidnap the Beckham family following an investigation by the paper's renowned investigative reporter, Mazher Mahmood.
The trial judge referred the News of the World to the attorney general when the case collapsed after it emerged the paper had paid a key witness in the case £10,000.
The attorney general has since cleared the paper.
Charges of conspiracy to kidnap were dropped against Adrian Pasaraneu, 27; Alin Turcu, 18; Luzim Balliu, 30; and two others who cannot be named for legal reasons.
The crown prosecution service told Middlesex Guildhall crown court it could not rely on the evidence of Florim Gashi, who had previous convictions for dishonesty and had accepted a payment of £10,000 for tipping off the paper about the alleged kidnap plot.
"This was a stage managed and nauseatingly self-congratulatory article, designed to boost the circulation of the News of the World," said Mr Price.
"Imagine how it must have felt to spend nine months in Feltham, accused of plotting to kidnap the UK's best known family, with the only 'evidence' coming from a fraudster who was paid £10,000.
"Mr Tucu has been devastated by the experience and is determined to clear his name."
The News of the World mounted a vigorous defence of its scoop, branding the CPS "tawdry" for trying to shift the blame for the collapse of the trial on to the newspaper.
In a full page leader it denied "cynically setting up" the kidnap plot and said it had been open about the payment to Mr Gashi from the outset.
The other four men wrongly named as part of the kidnap gang have also indicated their intention to take legal action.
Mr Pasaraneu, who was also imprisoned for 220 days while awaiting trial, said in June he had little connection with his co-defendants and would sue - although he did not specify whom he would take action against.
"I was fooled. I should have realised I was being set up if I was close to my co-defendants but there was no connection," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"They were people I met [in England], I used to meet them once or twice a week to talk and play pool. I never realised the gravity of the situation. I think I'm entitled to some compensation," he said.
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