Cases

Carpenter v Associated Newspapers Ltd

Issue

Whether a fair trial of the action against the Mail on Sunday was possible. The newspaper wished to justify the allegations of sexual harassment against the Claimant, and wanted to rely on Mr Clarke's evidence in the previous action. This evidence was inconsistent with the statement he had given by affidavit retracting the allegations on settlement of that action. If Mr Clarke gave evidence in accordance with his original statement he potentially faced prosecution for perjury for his subsequent affidavit. The newspaper suggested that one of the Claimant's reasons for requiring the affidavit was to prevent Clarke from assisting the Mail on Sunday in the libel action and as such, amounted to an abuse of the process of the court.

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