The court assessed damages having found that the claimant Labour MPs had been defamed by the defendant UKIP local politician. The defamations related to the alleged failures to control substantial child sex abuse in Rotherham.
Held: The appropriate award for each of the claimants was andpound;40,000: ‘This is a sum which, in my judgment, is in each case justified but no more than justified in all the circumstances. It strikes an appropriate balance between the need to vindicate the claimant’s reputation and compensate them fairly for the harm done, and the need to avoid over-chilling freedom of speech in the political arena. I have not awarded damages for the imputation I found, but of which the claimants did not complain. My focus has been on compensating and vindicating in respect of the first, factual defamatory meaning . . ‘
Warby J
[2016] EWHC 1226 (QB), HQ15D00453
Bailii, Judiciary
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Barron MP and Another v Vines QBD 29-Apr-2015
The court considered the damages to be awarded afer a libellous television broadcast on Sky TV. The claimants were MPs for Rotherham. There had been a large scale abuse of children, and they had been accused of not responding properly to it by the . .
Cited by:
Cited – Dhir v Saddler QBD 6-Dec-2017
Slander damages reduced for conduct
Claim in slander. The defendant was said, at a church meeting to have accused the client of threatening to slit her throat. The defendant argued that the audience of 80 was not large enough.
Held: ‘the authorities demonstrate that it is the . .
Cited – Hijazi v Yaxley-Lennon (Orse Tommy Robinson) QBD 22-Jul-2021
No Valid Evidence to Support Serious Accusations
The claimant was filmed being assaulted in the school playground. The film was published on the internet, and the defendant right wing politician re-published it, but falsely said that the claimant had himself been violent.
Held: The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 23 July 2021; Ref: scu.564988
