Defamation/ Libel
15.05.25
“Without prejudice” correspondence: a cautionary tale
In Keith Morris v William Simon Williams [2025] EWHC 218 (KB) the Court considered the exceptions to the general rule that without prejudice correspondence is inadmissible as evidence. The law on without prejudice correspondence In Unilever PLC v The Procter & Gamble Company [1999] EWCA Civ 3027 the Court of Appeal identified six exceptions to…
Read more6.05.25
Ofcom publishes final guidance on protecting children online
According to Ofcom, three in five teenagers have seen harmful content online in a four-week period. Children describe seeing violent content online as “unavoidable” and say that content relating to suicide, self-harm and eating disorder content as “prolific”. It is apt timing then that Ofcom has published its final guidance for online service providers to…
Read more1.05.25
High Court provides commentary on truth, allegations of criminal conduct, sex life, and acts in public, in privacy cases
A recent Judgment of Fordham J (Mullen v Lyles [2025] EWHC 645 (KB)), reversing, on appeal, an order of Deputy Master Marzec striking out a claim for the misuse of private information, provided some useful commentary on several knotty issues that crop up in privacy cases. Background The Claimant was an events organiser, and a…
Read more17.04.25
End of round 1 in Frank Warren v Chris Eubank Jr defamation claim
In Warren v Eubank [2025] EWHC 828 (KB), which must be one of the shortest media law judgments ever handed down, Mr Justice Jay reminded libel practitioners why a simple approach to determining meaning is often best. Frank Warren, the boxing promoter, who is no stranger to the libel courts, has sued the professional boxer,…
Read more15.04.25
Analogue data breach in a digital world
In recent times we have come to think of data breaches as something that happens when an email is sent to the wrong place, a laptop is lost, or a server is hacked. We do not think about piles of paper, blowing down a suburban street. The Ministry of Defence is currently investigating after paperwork…
Read more11.04.25
Aluko v Barton preliminary issues trial: Court finds former footballer’s tweets were defamatory
We have written previously about the libel troubles of former footballer Joey Barton as a result of his antics on X/Twitter. Those troubles continue in the form of a judgment on a preliminary issues trial resulting from his tweets about fellow former footballer, Eni Aluko, by Mr Justice Lavender in Aluko v Barton [2025] EWHC…
Read more10.04.25
Noel Clarke libel trial drawing to a close
Noel Clarke’s libel trial against The Guardian is drawing to a close. Clarke is best known for writing, directing and starring in The Hood Trilogy, and for his role in Doctor Who. On 29 March 2021, the British Academy of Film, Television and the Arts (‘BAFTA’) announced that Mr Clarke would receive its honorary award for…
Read more9.04.25
Can a trade union sue for libel?
In the case of Prospect v Evans [2025] EWHC 499 (KB), the Defendant, a former member of the Claimant trade union which represents professionals and specialist workers across a range of sectors sought to hold to account the Claimant’s officers for alleged wrongdoing. More specifically, in a post on the crowdfunding website, www.gofundme.com, the Defendant…
Read more7.04.25
HXZ v NMX: Businessman secures injunction against former lover accused of blackmailing him
On 13 March 2025, in HXZ v NMX [2025] EWHC 697 (KB) Mr Justice Ritchie granted a without notice interim injunction to a businessman who alleged that he was being blackmailed and harassed by a former lover. Judgment was handed down on 21 March 2025. The Claimant (anonymised as ‘HXZ’) is the chairman of a…
Read more28.03.25
Guido Fawkes owner pays Dale Vince defamation damages and costs
Paul Staines, the founder, owner, and erstwhile editor of the political blog Guido Fawkes has settled libel proceedings brought against him by Dale Vince. On 13 and 14 March 2024, Mr Staines published articles on his Guido Fawkes blog falsely accusing Mr Vince of having expressed support for Hamas during a Times Radio interview. Mr…
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Articles are intended as an introduction to the topic and do not constitute legal advice.
