Cases

Cook & Carlton Communications Ltd v News Group Newspapers Ltd (No.2)

Held

(1) There was a public interest in the defendant being able to deploy the defences it wished provided they were relevant and had a realistic prospect of success. It was undesirable for a claimant to obtain vindication on a false basis - Basham v Gregory 21 Feb 1996 considered. (2) Against that, the overriding objective required careful consideration of the consequences of a late amendment in terms of delay, cost and stress. If the amendments fell into the category of "more of the same" the Court might be reluctant to expand the scope of the trial if the amendments could have been made earlier. The Court would exclude anything that was peripheral. Only particulars supporting the central allegations that the programmes were "cynical fakery". McPhilemy v Times Newspapers Ltd [1999] 3 All ER 775 applied.

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