I've been in a version of what Michael O'Leary is going through, when an airline I was working for was subject to 30 minutes "trial by television" - basically, a load of disgruntled ex-employees, venting their spleen with a series of provably wrong claims that a gutter media - who had clearly committed to filling 30 minutes of airtime before they had done any research - were happy to lap up.
I hate to say it, but this is another symptom of the dreadfully low standards of journalism that we see in the UK. It is but a small step from "terror jet seconds from disaster over orphanage" to "sit in the front row of a 737 and you will die in the event of an accident". From a journalist's point of view, both grab the reader's/viewer's attention, and therefore "make good television".
If a journalist wanted to make a name for themselves, what better way than to feed on any public uneasiness about flying (better still, to generate some) and get as public a figure and as public a company as Michael O'Leary and Ryanair pilloried "in the public interest"?
I wish Michael O'Leary all the luck in the world with this, and I hope he sues them until their teeth fall out.