Helen Steel (born 1965)[1] is an environmental and social justice activist[2] who is known for her involvement in the McLibel case, an English lawsuit for libel filed by McDonald's Corporation that lasted for 10 years and was eventually taken to the European Court of Human Rights, where Steel and fellow campaigner David Morris won their case against the UK Government on the grounds that they had been denied a fair trial.

At the time, Steel was working part-time at a bar, earning up to £65 a week, meaning that she and Morris (an unemployed postal worker) could not afford legal representation, and had to represent themselves in court, with occasional pro bono assistance from barrister Keir Starmer.

The trial started in June 1994 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, after a failed attempt to demand legal aid.

Steel herself gave evidence (along with 59 defence witnesses), but in June 1997 the trial ended in defeat with Mr Justice Bell ordering the pair to pay £60,000 in damages to McDonald's, which was reduced to £40,000 on appeal.

[6] Steel was a victim of the UK Spycops[7] scandal,[8] deceived into a long term relationship with police officer, John Dines,[9] (known to Steel as John Barker) who was working undercover, as part of a wider police operation, to gain information on campaigners involved in the organisation London Greenpeace.