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Fallon v MGN Ltd (No.2)
Comment
The decision builds on the jurisprudence relating to the pleading of particulars in support of a Level 2 meaning by stressing that the evidence, and hence the particulars, must cross a probability threshold commensurate with the seriousness of the allegation. An analogy can be drawn with the rule applying to malice particulars, which is that each particular of malice must raise a "probability" of malice - it must be more consistent with the presence of malice than its absence. In the instant case the Court found the particulars of justification to be largely neutral and consistent with C being innocent. The pleading was also rendered defective by the fact that the D's race-riding expert contradicted the pleaded case that in the Ballinger Ridge race C appeared to wait for another horse to catch him in the closing straight.