Kevin Spacey wins bid to overturn Supreme Court ruling in sex abuse lawsuit

Kevin Spacey has won a bid to overturn a verdict against him in a sexual abuse lawsuit in the Supreme Court after his lawyers failed to file his defense in a timely manner.

In 2022, the Oscar-winning actor was sued at the High Court in London by a man who claimed he was sexually assaulted by Mr Spacey and suffered “psychiatric harm”.

The civil action was stayed after Mr Spacey was charged – and later acquitted – in a criminal case over a series of sexual offenses accused of four men between 2001 and 2013.

At a hearing on Tuesday, the court heard that the actor’s lawyers were required to file a written defense after the conclusion of the criminal case, but had failed to do so.

Subsequently, a default judgment was entered against Mr. Spacey earlier this year in civil litigation over his liability.

Adam Speker KC, who represented Mr. Spacey, applied to have the default order set aside, calling the failure to file the paperwork a “genuine error on the part of his attorney.”

The lawyer told the hearing in London that it would be unfair to start a compensation hearing.

Judge David Cook overturned the civil default judgment, saying the lawyers had “frankly screwed up.”

He said: “In my view there can be no excuse for the date to be overlooked.

“The simple fact is that this is a lawsuit in which the defendant’s lawyers made an error.

“In my view, this error should not be blamed on the defendant.”

Judge Cook added: “In the interests of justice, these allegations must be brought to trial and the default judgment should therefore be set aside.”