Claire Glasgow reaches settlements on personal injury claims against the City financier Crispin Odey

Claire Glasgow has reached settlements on behalf of two clients who were pursuing personal injury claims against the City financier Crispin Odey.

Background

Both clients had made allegations of sexual assault against Odey. The events complained of had taken place approximately 20 and 30 years ago respectively, and neither client had considered the possibility of a personal injury claim until an investigation into Odey was published by the Financial Times in June 2023: How Crispin Odey evaded sexual assault allegations for decades

The Financial Times has reported the stories of at least 20 women alleging sexual assault by Odey over decades. There was a familiar pattern of behaviour. Many of the women were young and at the outset of their careers in the City and were understandably open to offers of support and guidance from someone with influence and experience, who they should have been able to trust. Unfortunately, they found themselves vulnerable in situations engineered and exploited by Odey in an environment where other people appeared willing to turn a blind eye to his behaviour.

Personal Injury Claims and Libel Proceedings

Five women initiated personal injury claims against Odey in 2023/2024 for the damage caused to them by his assaults. The damage included psychiatric injury, loss of earnings and private treatment costs. As victims of sexual assault are entitled to anonymity under the terms of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, anonymity orders were obtained from the Court at the outset of the litigation to protect the women’s identities and/or addresses from publication for their lifetime.

Evidence was carefully gathered to value the clients’ claims, including expert medical reports to clarify the nature of the psychological damage caused by the assaults, and consideration was given to what other financial losses, such as loss of earnings, had been caused by that damage.

Odey robustly defended the claims from the outset and subsequently initiated libel proceedings against the Financial Times for publishing the stories, which he claimed were untrue.

Given the overlap in evidence and witnesses across the personal injury claims and the libel claim, it was submitted to the Court on behalf of the personal injury claimants and the Financial Times that it would make sense to deal with all claims at the same trial. This would mean that each of the personal injury claimants and the other women who had spoken to the Financial Times would only need to give evidence about what had happened to them once, rather than in two or more separate trials. The Court agreed and all claims were listed to be heard together in one 5-week trial set to begin at the end of June 2026.

Financial Conduct Authority Proceedings

As the claims progressed, Odey was sanctioned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). In March 2025, he was fined £1.8 million and banned from the UK financial services industry for a lack of integrity. The FCA decided that Odey had deliberately sought to frustrate his company’s disciplinary processes regarding his inappropriate conduct towards women to protect his own interests. The FCA also stated that it considered Odey’s conduct demonstrated that he was not a fit and proper person to perform any function related to regulated activities.

Odey appealed, and the appeal hearing commenced in March 2026. The Court has yet to determine whether it will uphold or overturn the FCA decision. The Court heard from the FCA that Odey had sought to ‘create a false reality in which he was the victim’, that he had fired executives who suggested that he should be segregated from female colleagues and moved to a lower ground floor office, and that he had twice fired his executive committee before it could discipline him over sexual misconduct allegations.

Withdrawal of the Libel Claim

In April 2026, Odey withdrew his libel claim against the Financial Times on the basis it could not succeed, and it seemed that the personal injury claimants would still proceed to trial in the summer.

Settlement

Claire’s clients accepted offers in settlement of their personal injury claims from Odey in May 2026.

Claire’s client JAS, who is protected by an Anonymity Order, said:

"Procedural technicalities have forced me to accept a Part 36 offer in settlement of my claim. I would have preferred to go to court to expose the truth in my case. Nevertheless, I'm deeply grateful to my solicitor, Claire Glasgow, and the entire legal team, for making it possible for me to join my claim with the claims of the other victims of Crispin Odey's abuse. Simply having people who wanted to listen to my story and help me access the psychiatric help I needed, allowed me to start healing.

I also want to thank the Financial Times journalists (Paul Caruana Galizia, Antonia Cundy and Madison Marriage) for their extraordinary efforts in pursuing an investigation into this scandal as well as the other women who spoke out. There are tears streaming down my face as I struggle to find words that adequately express my gratitude to the three journalists and the other women, none of whom I've even met. Without their support, I would still be trapped in the misery of unresolved trauma."

Claire said:

"It has taken extraordinary resilience and courage on the part of the victims and the journalists to speak out about the numerous allegations of sexual abuse by Crispin Odey.

This has been complex and fiercely fought litigation, involving not just my clients’ claims but also an associated libel action brought by Odey against the Financial Times.

No victim of sexual assault takes the legal route lightly. The legal process, regrettably, is not designed with the needs of people who have experienced devastating trauma in mind. My clients have had to revisit painful and traumatic events that they wish had never happened in an attempt to get legal recognition of the damage caused to their lives. No sum of money can undo that but I hope that the settlements will allow my clients to obtain private specialist therapy and give them some financial security in recognition of the impact of Odey’s behaviour on their careers."

The personal injury claimants were also represented by barristers Lizanne Gumbel KC and Marcus Coates Walker of 1 Crown Office Row.

Please direct any enquiries regarding this article to ceg@deanwilson.co.uk