Cases

Beckham & Another v News Group Newspapers Ltd

Facts

Both parties made applications for specific disclosure: the Defendant for specific disclosure of 8 categories of documents from the Claimants; and the Claimants for disclosure of interviews that the Defendant’s journalists had conducted with the Claimants’ former nanny, Abbie Gibson. The action, which is for libel, related to an article published in The News of the World in September 2004 which the Claimants contended meant, in broad terms, that for financial reasons they were cynically and hypocritically trying to convince the public that their failed marriage was perfect. The Defendant asserted that documents in each category they were seeking must exist and should be disclosed. The Claimants asserted that the Defendant had failed to meet the relevant test and that, in some instances, there were no documents or those that did exist were protected by legal professional privilege. The Defendant opposed the Claimants’ application on the basis that disclosure was not relevant.

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