All posts
12.12.22
A right to erasure of police records? High Court orders Police to delete records of historic complaints
This article considers the recent judgment of AB v Chief Constable of British Transport Police [2022] EWHC 2749 (KB) and the practical implications when an individual makes a data subject access (‘DSAR’) or right to erasure request to the Police. What are the facts of AB ? The appellant, AB was 31-year-old-male who has Autistic…
Read more11.10.22
Press release: Academic pays nearly £50,000 in damages to colleague falsely touted online as a sex worker
Former UCL academic Dr Christopher Backhouse has paid US academic Dr Erica Smith £49,975 in damages to settle High Court privacy and harassment proceedings. In a statement read in the High Court today before Mr Justice Nicklin, Dr Smith’s solicitor explained that between November 2020 and May 2021, Dr Smith was the victim of an anonymous…
Read more25.07.22
Alleged defamatory comments made in course of pre-action protocol covered by absolute privilege
Percy Preston of Brett Wilson LLP is interviewed about the High Court’s decision in Jabbar and another v Aviva Insurance UK Ltd and others [2022] EWHC 1383 (QB). Analysis: This judgment concerned the defendants’ application for an order striking out the claims for unlawful means conspiracy, conspiracy to injure and tortious interference with contract, on…
Read more22.07.22
Tinder stalker sentenced for contempt of court
In Dew v Mills-Nanyn [2022] EWHC 1925 (QB) Mrs Justice Collins Rice sentenced the Defendant Oliver Mills-Nanyn to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for a period of two years for 20 sample breaches of undertakings to the court. The Judge also ordered Mr Mills-Nanyn to pay the Claimant Scarlett Dew the sum of £30,000 in damages…
Read more1.07.22
Haviland v Lownie: Libel claim against publisher dismissed
The High Court has today dismissed a libel claim brought against publisher Andrew Lownie and his literary agency by former associate David Havilland. Mr Haviland alleged that Mr Lownie had libelled him in seven emails sent to the writers’ website Reedsy.com. In an earlier decision (Haviland v The Andrew Lownie Literary Agency Ltd & Anor…
Read more28.06.22
Privacy claim requires ‘positive act’ by the defendant to demonstrate misuse of private information
Percy Preston of Brett Wilson LLP is interviewed about the High Court’s decision in Smith and others v TalkTalk Telecom Group plc [2022] EWHC 1311 (QB) Information Law analysis: This judgment concerned several applications in a claim based on alleged mass data breaches. The claimants sought damages from the defendant in the tort of misuse…
Read more11.05.22
Depp v Heard: the perils of live-streaming and trial by TikTok
Following on from recent blogs on derogations from the principles of open justice and closed materials, we look today at the other side of that coin: wide-open justice. At the time of writing, the US defamation case of John C. Depp II v Amber Laura Heard (CL-2019-2911) is just past its half-way point in Fairfax,…
Read more27.04.22
Sex offender’s attempt to hold law firm to ransom over data breach backfires
In Chief Constable of Kent Police & Anor v Taylor [2022] EWHC 737 (QB), Mr Justice Saini considered a claim for breach of confidence, arising from the Defendant’s refusal to delete videos that a law firm that had accidentally disclosed to him and which contained sensitive information about a vulnerable minor. The videos were taken…
Read more14.02.22
Lexis Nexis Interview: Trade secrets, breach of confidence and conspiracy
Adham Harker of Brett Wilson LLP is interviewed about the decision in Salt Ship Design AS v Prysmian Powerlink SRL [2021] EWHC 2633 (Comm). Introduction The High Court has upheld a claim for breach of confidence and unlawful means conspiracy in this case which involved a design document being misused by a third party, after…
Read more10.02.22
Defamed in the workplace: a guide to recent caselaw
Three cases heard in the past year in the High Court – George v Cannell [2021] EWHC 2988 (QB), Parris v Ajayi [2021] EWHC 285 (QB) and Kostakopolou v University of Warwick and others [2021] EWHC 3454 (QB) – have raised some of the difficulties confronting claimants who wish to bring a defamation claim in relation…
Read moreLegal Disclaimer
Articles are intended as an introduction to the topic and do not constitute legal advice.
