Cases

Bowman v MGN Ltd

Held

Awarding C £4,250 and ordering him to pay costs from the date of acceptance of the offer of amends:

(1) There was no evidence of the number of readers who would have understood the article in a defamatory sense and in the absence of any specific evidence as to publication the Court should take a conservative approach. This was a libel at “the less serious end of the scale”; “a bit of celebrity gossip”. The libel was short-lived and there was no hard evidence of any actual effect on C’s reputation, although there was no doubt that C took the suggestion in the article seriously and suffered some embarrassment and genuine distress.

C had failed to prove that the alleged conversation between his agent and D’s journalist had taken place, but even if he had done so in the overall context it would not have made very much difference. On the other hand, D could be criticised for adopting a "take it or leave it" approach in refusing to answer C's requests for information before C decided to accept the offer of amends.

The starting figure for compensation was £8,500. D should be given a 50 per cent discount to take account of the mitigating effect of D’s conduct and in particular the offer of amends. The appropriate figure for compensation was therefore £4,250.

(2) C should have his costs up to the date of the acceptance of the offer of amends, and D should have the costs from that date.

Also