- Jonathan Creek star among thousands that could be sued in what is thought to involve the largest number of defendants in British legal history
- Lord McAlpine's lawyers have found 1,000 original tweets and 9,000 retweets
- Former Countryfile presenter accuses BBC of being out of touch with public
By Claire Ellicott
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Alan Davies, pictured, could face legal action after mentioning false child abuse allegations against Lord McAlpine
Actor and comedian Alan Davies is the latest celebrity to face the possibility of a lawsuit for falsely naming Tory peer Lord McAlpine on Twitter in connection with child abuse claims.
The Jonathan Creek star joins a growing number of potential defendants facing libel action which lawyers think could swell to 10,000 ? the largest in British legal history.
Davies tweeted after a BBC2 Newsnight programme earlier this month which speculated about the identity of a senior Conservative accused of child abuse.
The report did not name 70-year-old Lord McAlpine.
But social networking sites were quickly awash with his name. It later emerged he had been falsely accused.
Davies, 46, tweeted to his 440,000 followers: ?Any clues as to who this Tory paedophile is...??
He then retweeted a response naming Lord McAlpine.
Davies, who appears on BBC2 panel show QI, refused to comment yesterday.
Others who tweeted the peer?s name include Sally Bercow, wife of Commons Speaker John Bercow.
She tweeted to her 59,000 followers on November 4: ?Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent face*.?
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On Friday she tweeted: ?Yes had letter from Lord McA. His lawyers ambulance chasers tbh [to be honest] #bigbullies.??
Lawyers said the Lord McAlpine, pictured, case could potentially involve the largest number of defendants in British legal history
She later added: ?I don?t have money to contest a multi-millionaire. Lord McA falsely accused but not by me.
?Loving my trial by tabloid, mind. I never said Lord McAlpine paedophile ? just noted he trending. Nor did I tweet about *that* Newsnight. This is totally politically motivated, I tell you. And I don?t do conspiracy theories as a rule.?
Mistake: Sally Bercow took to Twitter to comment on speculation as to the identity of the Tory at the centre of a Newsnight investigation and could be sued
She went on: ?Night twitter. Off to cuddle up with my lovely husband who takes so much **** (often on my behalf) #poor John #topspeaker #greatmanontoast.?
The peer?s lawyers have identified 1,000 ?original? tweets and a further 9,000 retweets, which is when a user re-posts a comment sent to them.
About 40 of these potential defendants have so far approached the peer?s lawyers to apologise.
His legal team plans to make each of them pay a nominal sum of possibly ?5 to a children?s charity.
Lord McAlpine is not expected to treat people such as Sally Bercow in the same way.
Her lawyers approached his legal team last week but were given short shrift.
A friend of the peer was reported to have said: ?They tried to say she didn?t really mean any harm. We?ve sent them a letter before action.?
BBC controversy: Lord McAlpine announced last week that he is taking landmark legal action against internet gossips who falsely branded him a paedophile after BBC's Newsnight broadcast the wrong claims
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