Former Liverpool, Chelsea and Scotland striker David Speedie lives in Dublin now. He contends he would be more of a fixture on punditry panels but for a pair of articles published in the Sunday World.
The articles claimed he was linked to famed gangster Freddie Thompson, or Fat Freddie Thompson as he is now officially known.
Speedie's link to Thompson is indeed tenuous. His fiancee is a sister of a woman married to Ritchie Thompson, elder brother of the illustrious Fat Freddie.
Speedie is suing the paper for defamation.
The Sunday World deny defamation, saying the contentious articles are true in both substance and fact and do not imply what Speedie claims they imply.
The headlines of each article are striking. The first is entitled 'Kops and Robbers' while the latter is headlined 'Speedie the Snake'.
The article wrote that Speedie had been drinking in a Dublin pub when Ritchie Thompson has his leg broken in an attack.
The story quoted Speedie as saying he was harrassed by Gardai because of his very tenuous association with the Thompsons. The story also asserted he was being quizzed by gardai who were trying to quell a murderous gangland feud in Crumlin and Drimnagh.
Speedie says he has no memory of offering these quotes. He recalls how he was initially called about his work helping to revive St. Francis football club (a League of Ireland team back in the late 90s) in inner city Dublin. As soon as the name 'Freddie Thompson' was named, Speedie says he shouted 'fuck off' and slammed down the phone.
The article that was produced off the back of this encounter shocked him.
Speedie told of how he was so frightened by the implications of the articles that he moved back to the UK. However, he has since returned to Dublin because he missed his fiancee. Referring to Thompson, he insists he 'does not even know this guy'.
Mark Harty SC, representing Speedie, says the article wrote that he had been 'associating with known gangsters' and had been stopped frequently by Gardai.
His counsel said that 'he is seeking substantial damages not simply to compensate him for the defamation but to vindicate his reputation.'
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