Peaky Blinders costumier, 64, embroiled in defamation row with her late husbands mother over claims she tried to make her homeless

An award-winning costume designer is being sued by her late husbands elderly mother over claims she libelled the pensioner during a venomous row over his estate.

Yvonne Tattersall, 64, who has supplied outfits for Peaky Blinders and won an Emmy for her wardrobe work in the 2011 miniseries Great Expectations, is locked in a court battle with her 80-year-old mother-in-law, Lynette Tattersall.

The pensioner had gone to war with her daughter-in-law after claiming that she had bankrolled the firm Yvonne had set up with her son, Mick Tattersall, which supplied period costumes to the TV and film industry.

But following her sons death in 2019, Lynette sued for repayment of sums she said she was owed by his estate and by Yvonne, eventually earning a five-figure pay-out in court.

In the midst of the row Yvonne made a Facebook post, accusing her mother-in-law of trying to make her homeless and telling lies about her, resulting in her becoming an outcast in her home village in Lancashire.

Now she is facing a High Court battle after her mother-in-law sued her for libel, claiming the Facebook post was false and has caused serious damage to her reputation.

Yvonne Tattersall is being sued by her mother-in-law after accusing her of trying to make her homeless in a Facebook post. Pictured: Yvonne Tattersall outside the High Court in London

Lynette Tattersall claimed the statement made by her daughter-in-law had caused serious damage to her reputation. Pictured: Lynette Tattersall sat in a chair wearing a blue dress

The row erupted after Lynette sued the estate of her late son Mick Tattersall and Yvonne for money she claimed she was owed. Pictured: Mick Tattersall wearing sunglasses and a suit before his death

A member of BAFTA, Yvonne Tattersall spent two decades as a costume designer and supervisor in film and TV, winning an Emmy for her efforts on Great Expectations, as well as working on Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and the 2012 movie version of Les Miserables.

After moving back to her native north west, she set up the 20th Century Costume Hire Company with her husband. 

On its website, the business describes its genesis in his hoarding of clothing dating back to the 1940s, with it now boasting thousands of items.

Over the years it has been hired for star-studded productions including Peaky Blinders, Sexy Beast and the Sex Pistols biopic Pistol.

The couple married in 2015, but he died in November 2019, with his grieving mum and widow then falling out bitterly over the couples family home in Billington village, near Clitheroe.

Lynette Tattersall claimed she had provided her son and his wife with financial assistance throughout their relationship, including taking out a mortgage to allow them to purchase the house in 2012, subject to them making the repayments.

But after her sons death, she sued her daughter-in-law and her sons estate, seeking an order for sale of the property so she could recoup loans and payments owed for the mortgage.

During the county court row, which was heard in Manchester, Yvonne made the Facebook post which has now led to her being sued by mother-in-law again at the High Court.

Lawyers for Lynette Tattersall claimed she had not been trying to make her daughter-in-law homeless when applying for an order of sale on her property. Pictured: Lynette Tattersall seen wearing an all-white outfit

Yvonne Tattersall claimed in the Facebook post that her mother-in-law had spread lies about her in her Lancashire village, leading to her becoming an outcast. Pictured: Yvonne Tattersall outside the High Court in London

Yvonne had set up a costume rental firm with her late husband Mick Tattersall, with her mother-in-law claiming she was owed money from the firm. Pictured: Mick Tattersall pictured sitting on a bench while wearing a suit

In it, she wrote: Went out tonight in my village for the first time in nearly two years since my husband died, I have not been able to go out because people who used to be my friends have decided to support my mother in law, a women who has tried to make me homeless and continually told lies about me.

Anyone who really knows me knows I am not capable of what she is accusing me off. I no longer want anything to do with anyone who is friends with her so goodbye I shall be deleting you.

Suing her for libel, the mother-in-law claims that the meaning of the post included that she had made endeavours to render the defendant homeless and is an untrustworthy individual, having continually told lies about the defendant, causing her daughter-in-law to be ostracized within her village.

The claimant contends that she has suffered serious reputational harm, her barrister Lily Walker-Parr told Mr Justice Julian Knowles during a pre-trial hearing at the High Court last week.

In her defence to the libel claim, Yvonne claims that her mother-in-law told numerous lies at the time of the county court case, including about the motive for payments for a kitchen.

Representing herself at last weeks hearing, she told the judge: I feel that on the whole the claimant has not supplied any evidence to support anything she is saying.

She is also defending the case on the basis that her statement that her mother-in-law was trying to make her homeless was true as she had sought an order for sale of the property.

But Ms Walker-Parr said that, ultimately, the mother-in-law was awarded £20,000 damages from her daughter-in-law and about £10,000 from her sons estate following the county court case.

Yvonne Tattersalls firm had provided costumes for hit shows including Peaky Blinders. Pictured: Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders

Crucially, notwithstanding the claimants success, the property was not immediately sold, she continued.

The defendant was first given the opportunity to, and did, redeem the mortgage and receive the legal title.

Even if the property had been sold, the defendant and the estate of Mr Tattersall would receive the balance of any net proceeds after the mortgage and costs of sale were discharged.

She said seeking an order for sale does not amount to making endeavours to make a person homeless.

It was neither the claimants intention, nor a likely outcome, and the claimant continued to pay the mortgage payments despite seeking an order for sale to ensure that the defendant was not evicted, she said.

Indeed, despite the claimants success in the county court claim, the defendant was not made homeless.

Yvonne also disputes that the Facebook post caused her mother-in-law serious reputational harm, pointing out that she has since moved to Italy, but has no issues returning to her Lancashire village of Whalley and regularly attends social gatherings.

Following an hour-long pre-trial hearing, the judge made an order requiring her to disclose transcripts of the county court trial for use in the libel trial.

The case is set to return for a three-day trial at a later date.