John joined 5RB in October 2015 after completion of pupillage at chambers. During pupillage he was involved with his four supervisors and others in a range of 5RB’s work. Cases with which John assisted included:
• Mitchell v News Group Newspapers – the ‘Gate-gate’ libel trial of Andrew Mitchell MP’s claim against the Sun newspaper
• Prince Moulay Hicham Ben Abdullah Al Alaoui of Morocco v Elaph Publishing Ltd – libel action by His Highness Prince Moulay against an online Arabic language publisher
• Rufus v Elliott – libel claim between former footballers and business partners
• Gulati & others v MGN Limited – trial of quantum for awards in misuse of private information by eight claimants against the Mirror titles
• AG v Condé Nast – contempt proceedings brought against the publisher of GQ magazine
• Tardios v Linton – libel action by proprietor of private school against online defamatory statements
The spectrum of work John undertook in pupillage was very broad, covering many areas: defamation; privacy; data protection; copyright; Freedom of Information; reporting the courts; contempt of court; and others.
Before retraining as a barrister John spent over 25 years working in media regulation across broadcast and non-broadcast media, most recently at Ofcom. His experience in the sectoral regulation of both editorial material and advertising, in both broadcast and non-broadcast media, is extensive, indeed probably uniquely so.
John’s regulatory experience includes such areas as: editorial content (offence; harm; accuracy in news; impartiality; fairness and privacy); editorial commercial content (product placement; sponsorship; undue prominence); advertising content (broadcast and non-broadcast); broadcast licensing; and sanctions against broadcasters.
John’s practice draws on this expertise. Together with the core areas of media law work – defamation, privacy, data protection, harassment, copyright etc – he advises on all aspects of media content, both in relation to the law and the applicable codes.
John does both defendant and claimant work and offers pre-publication advice in all media.
Called
2014 Called to the Bar of England and Wales
Education
Bar Professional Training Course LLB, Birkbeck College, University of London – 1st class
Qualifications
Wildys Prize for Legal Method
Birkbeck College, University of London
Diplock Scholarship
Middle Temple
Areas of work
Defamation and Malicious Falsehood
Data Protection and Information Law
Privacy and Confidence
Harassment
Injunctive Relief
Pre-publication Advice
Memberships
Middle Temple
All cases
Defamation and Malicious Falsehood
Corbyn v Millett
[2021] EWCA Civ 567 20/04/2021
Reporting the Courts and Contempt
HRH Prince Louis of Luxembourg v HRH Princess Tessy of Luxembourg & anor
[2017] EWHC 3095 (Fam) 05/12/2017
Articles
Responsible journalism—the ethics of press leaks
By John Stables. 13 Jun 2016
Photos of celebrities' children—does Paul Weller's case muddy the waters of media law?
By John Stables. 10 Dec 2015
In 5RB News
17 Oct 2024
5RB in Chambers & Partners 2025
20 Oct 2023
5RB tops rankings in Chambers & Partners
5 Oct 2023
5RB named Tier 1 set in Defamation and privacy by The Legal 500
3 Oct 2023
Ghenavat and others v Simon Lyons: Defendant found liable in harassment
26 Jun 2023
Claimant awarded £30,000 damages in Myanmar ‘informer’ libel action
Retired doctor wins defamation action over Facebook allegation of being an informer for the military dictatorship in Myanmar
16 Nov 2022
Rachel Riley awarded £50,000 libel damages
Rachel Riley wins case against political blogger Mike Sivier: £50,000 damages and injunction granted
7 Oct 2022
5RB named top set by The Legal 500
Directory rankings also released
11 Aug 2022
Rachel Riley decision upheld
Laura Murray's appeal dismissed
1 Jul 2022
Libel claim in Haviland v Lownie is dismissed
Murray J grants summary judgment in favour of the two Defendants - Andrew Lownie and Mr Lownie's literary agency - in libel claim
20 Dec 2021
Rachel Riley wins libel action against Laura Murray
TV presenter wins Twitter libel case
12 Nov 2021
Permission to appeal granted in George v Cannell & Anor
9 Nov 2021
Judgment handed down in George v Cannell & Anor
Saini J dismisses claims in libel, slander per se and malicious falsehood
20 Apr 2021
Defendant’s appeal dismissed in Millett v Corbyn
Court of Appeal dismisses Jeremy Corbyn’s appeal against decisions that publication complained of consisted of statements of fact, not opinion, and defamed the Claimant
20 Jan 2021
Rachel Riley v Michael Sivier: defence struck out in libel claim
Rachel Riley secures strike out of Defendant blogger’s defence in ‘online harassment’ libel claim
22 Jul 2020
Statements in Open Court for Labour Party whistleblowers and John Ware
Pending claims against Labour Party by seven whistleblowers and journalist John Ware conclude
10 Jul 2020
Court determines meaning of defamatory statements in libel case against Jeremy Corbyn
The meaning of Jeremy Corbyn MP's statements about Richard Millett held to be statements of fact and to be defamatory at common law
24 Apr 2020
Court determines meaning in Rachel Riley v Laura Murray libel case
The meaning of the tweet complained of held to be statements of fact and opinion and to be defamatory at common law
31 Jan 2020
Statement in Open Court for Licensing Officer
Claim by Wajed Iqbal concludes
20 Sep 2017
Middle Temple Visit to Washington DC
3 Members of 5RB speak on Media Law
24 Sep 2015
5RB welcomes John Stables
New tenant from 1 October 2015
Contact
Email: clerks@5rb.com
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