Cases
of Interest
KEVIN KEEGAN v (1) NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS (2) REBEKAH WADE
The former manager of the England football team settled his action against
the publisher and editor of the News of the World in respect of allegations
that he had encouraged a culture of gambling in the team, often involving
large amounts of money, and had permitted gambling to take place until
late at night on the eve of football matches. The parties read a Statement
in Open Court in which the News of the World accepted that there was no
truth in the allegations and apologised. The Defendants undertook to publish
an apology in the paper and to pay the Claimant his costs and damages.
HM ATTORNEY-GENERAL v (1) TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD (2) TIM KELSEY (3) DAVID LEPPARD
The Defendants had undertaken not to publish information disclosed by Richard Tomlinson, a former member of the Secret Intelligence Service, whose information was potentially damaging to the national interest. In light of the fact that Tomlinson's book was soon to be published in Russia, America, Germany and other European countries and would be available via the internet, the Defendants successfully applied to vary their undertakings to allow them to publish material which was already in the public domain. The Court of Appeal upheld the variations, stating that they were in harmony with the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and with s.12 of the Human Rights Act.
BRUCE
GROBBELAAR v NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD & ANOR
The Court of Appeal, in an unprecedented move, overturned the verdict
in the libel action brought by the well-known footballer in which a jury
awarded him £85,000 for allegations in the News of the World that
he had fixed football matches for money. The Court concluded that the
verdict was 'perverse' and 'an affront to justice', describing Grobbelaar's
version of events as 'simply incredible. All logic, common sense and reason
compel one to that conclusion'.
MARCO PIERRE WHITE v (1) ANTHONY DAVID ALLAN (2) FISH PLC
The Claimant, a well-known chef and restaurateur, settled his action with
the Defendants, a supplier of foodstuffs to restaurants in London and
owner of the FISH restaurant chain, and its chairman. The First Defendant
had alleged, in an interview published in The Mirror entitled 'My Turbot-Charged
Ferrari: How sacked chef made 20 million from fishy business' that the
Claimant had served real ink instead of squid ink to a customer and had
been dishonest in his dealings with him. The Defendants unreservedly withdrew
the allegations in a Statement in Open Court and apologised, undertaking
to pay the Claimant 'very substantial damages' and his costs.
(1) JON VENABLES (2) ROBERT THOMPSON v (1) NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD
(2) ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS LTD (3) MGN LTD
An application brought by the convicted murderers of Jamie Bulger who
killed the toddler when they were eleven years old. Injunctions restricting
the media from publishing certain information about the two convicts came
to an end on their 18th birthdays. The Claimants sought further indefinite
injunctions to restrain the media from disclosing information about their
time in detention and their identity, appearance or addresses once they
were released from custody and were granted new identities to protect
them from the serious risk of attack from Bulger's relatives and the public
at large. The Defendant newspaper companies sought to resist the injunction
on the grounds that it was a breach of their right to freedom of expression.
Dame Butler-Sloss, Head of the Family Division, granted the injunction,
stating that under the English common law and articles 2, 3 and 8 of the
European Convention of Human Rights, now enshrined in statute, the Claimants'
lives and well-being required protection. In the instant case, the right
of confidence was placed above the right of the media to publish freely
information about the Claimants.