UK news This article is more than 20 years oldGirls Aloud singer faces civil suit
This article is more than 20 years oldIn her only interview since the trial, Sophie Amogbokpa explains why she feels driven to sue Cheryl TweedyThough it is barely a fortnight since the Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy was convicted of assaulting a nightclub attendant, she is rehabilitating her career in the grandiose fashion of our times. This week, as cameras turned, flashlights popped and the public relations operation swung into overdrive, the 20-year-old reflected on her drunken behaviour in January when she punched Sophie Amogbokpa in the toilets of the Drink nightclub in Guildford, Surrey.
During chastened interviews with GMTV, BBC Radio Five Live and the Sun, Tweedy - who received a £3,000 fine and 120 hours' community service - apologised to her fans, her family and the other members of Girls Aloud, a pop band created through a reality TV show.
She said sorry, it seems, to everyone except Mrs Amogbokpa - who has yet to receive an apology for an assault which put her in hospital with what doctors described as "significant damage" to her eye, leaving her unable to work for six weeks.
That omission may cost the singer from Newcastle dear. In her only media interview since the trial, Mrs Amogbokpa yesterday told the Guardian she had launched a civil action, seeking an apology and substantial damages.
She is being represented by Imran Khan, the solicitor who acted for the parents of Stephen Lawrence. Mr Khan said his client was acting reluctantly. "The only choice she has is to take this matter to the civil court so Ms Tweedy will finally acknowledge what she has done and the extent to which she has affected Mrs Amogbokpa's life."
Challenge
A legal letter outlining her claim was sent to the singer's lawyers last night. Mrs Amogbokpa said she had decided to air her side of the story. "I want the world to see [Tweedy] the way she really is. She is attempting to carry on with her life and ignore what I went through. When I heard what she told the media, it was as if I was being assaulted all over again."
During the trial at Kingston crown court, Tweedy was cleared of a charge of racially aggravated assault. She has since taken comfort in this verdict. But the new case will challenge that finding, as Mrs Amogbokpa will seek aggravated damages in the civil courts on the basis that the assault was racially motivated. Though the criminal trial jury rejected that claim, in the civil courts cases can be won "on the balance of probabilities" rather than "beyond legal doubt", the criminal standard.
The criminal court was asked to decide whether Tweedy had referred to her victim as "a fucking black bitch". Although the jury preferred the evidence of witnesses who said she had not, there were others who claimed that she had.
Mrs Amogbokpa said that, after the criminal trial, she had resolved to carry on with her life. She had obtained a law degree and her priority was to get a job with a solicitor's firm. But when she saw Tweedy's publicity blitz, she decided to act. "If she had just apologised, it would have been the end of the story," she said.
"The judge said she had not shown any remorse, but she could have done it now. I wanted her to apologise to me as a person. The fact that she hasn't just goes to show how much she feels I am just rubbish. She was able to apologise to her fans and her family and other people but not to me, the victim, who she caused so much stress and pain."
She said that on the night of the attack she had given Tweedy an opportunity to apologise and that, if she had done so, the police might never have been involved.
Details of the assault were hotly contested in court. What was agreed was that Tweedy and fellow band member Nicola Roberts had gone to the toilets at the Drink. They disappeared into the same cubicle and Nicola emerged first. She asked to use some of the cosmetics on display and told Mrs Amogbokpa, who was working as a toilet attendant to pay her way through law college, that her friend would supply the required tip.
A disagreement about what happened when Tweedy emerged formed the crux of the case. Mrs Amogbokpa said the singer began grabbing the sweets she had on display. In her interview with the Guardian, she claimed: "I had been sitting on a stool. I got up, went over and told her, 'You don't take things like that'. The next thing was that she said: 'My father owns this place you fucking black bitch. I can do whatever I want to do. I will deal with you'."
Mrs Amogbokpa said the singer was clearly drunk. "I expected her to give me a tip. She became aggressive and violent towards me."
A security guard was called and Mrs Amogbokpa said that as he sought to restrain Tweedy, she lunged forward with a heavy punch. "She came right through and punched me in the left eye. My vision blurred and the eye closed immediately."
Tweedy told the court she had been accosted as she searched for money to pay for the sweets. She admitted hitting Mrs Amogbokpa, but said: "She hit me first". Tweedy vehemently denied making any racist statement. Afterwards she said she was "thankful the jury accepted that this incident has nothing to do with race".
Tweedy's defence pointed out that Mrs Amogbokpa did not mention race in her first police interview. She said this was because the interview had taken place half an hour after the attack, when she was in hospital and not thinking clearly.
The time after the attack was also stressful for Mrs Amogbokpa. "I was trying to write my final papers but I couldn't sit at the computer or read to do my research. I was in a lot of pain. I couldn't do anything for myself. The people around me suffered."
The ordeal has dragged on. Mrs Amogbokpa, 39, and her husband Julius have only recently returned to their home in south London because they have been besieged by journalists. Until now, they have chosen to remain silent, rebuffing offers of up to £10,000 from tabloid newspapers and invitations from broadcasters.
Mrs Amogbokpa, quietly spoken and a devout Christian, said she was acutely embarrassed by the publicity. "People look at me in the street and I can see them wondering, 'Is it her?' I deliberately cut my hair to look different. There have been calls from back home in Nigeria. I have had a lot of support from people I know and some I don't. Some of the girls who go to the Drink have sent me cards and photos and money. One sent me a card with a psalm 'When I am afraid I put my trust in God'. I was very moved."
On Tuesday, Tweedy said she accepted her conviction and had already completed six hours of community service. She was keen to "put it all behind me and carry on".
Mrs Amogbokpa says she would like to do the same, but feels she can't. "I don't hate her as a person. But I hate her behaviour and I find it very sad that she has not learned from her mistakes."
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