Paul Gascoigne has received a high court apology from the Sun for a story falsely alleging that he groped a shop assistant.
The former international footballer was not at London's high court on Monday for the settlement of his libel action against News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that publishes the Sun, over the July 2010 story.
Gascoigne's counsel, Richard Pitkethly, told Mr Justice Tugendhat that the story, headlined "It's Paw Gascoigne", stated that the shop assistant said he had put his hand on her breast.
Pitkethly said the Sun acted in good faith in publishing the article, having obtained an interview with the assistant, setting out her version of events. However, she subsequently withdrew this version in an article published elsewhere.
"The allegation was published in good faith but it was nevertheless false," Pitkethly told the court. "Mr Gascoigne did not grope the shop assistant as alleged in the article, or at all, and the defendant now accepts this."
Pitkethly said Gascoigne and NGN had now resolved matters between themselves and the article had been removed from the newspaper's website.
NGN's solicitor, Ben Beabey, apologised for any distress and embarrassment caused.
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