Latest news with #libel
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Kitchen fitter sues customer for libel after being branded 'worst I have ever seen' and an 'absolute joke' in online review
A kitchen fitter is suing a customer for libel after they posted a scathing online review branding him the 'worst I have ever seen'. Joiner Benjamin Johnson has resorted to the High Court after Stephen Helm said he was an 'absolute joke' and told others to 'avoid' him. On a website for tradesman reviews, Mr Helm claimed Mr Johnson 'damaged everything' and said he was 'the worst fitter I have ever seen'. Mr Johnson, based in Preston, claims customers cancelled scheduled jobs after seeing the post – costing him £19,000. In early 2022 Mr Johnson's firm, Johnson's Joinery, was hired by Mr Helm to work on his kitchen. That April, the pair argued about the 'standard' of Mr Johnson's fitting, which resulted in him stopping, a preliminary hearing was told. Mr Helm and Mr Johnson then agreed a settlement. The homeowner uploaded a review of Johnson's Joinery the following month to a website allowing users to discuss nearby businesses. The post, left online for 17 months, read: 'The worse [sic] fitter I have ever seen, ruined everything he touched, didn't do a full day. Damaged everything and can't draw a straight line... Lazy, dirty and dangerous health concerns regarding his work... Ben Johnson [and father the plumber] are to be avoided at all costs. 'He refunded our deposit and admitted liability by doing that however wouldn't pay the extras to rectify and remove everything he did and doesn't care about the impact to our home. 'Avoid, avoid, avoid... Absolute joke, embarrassing and when questioned for consumer rights claim said his feelings were hurt as we were questioning his character. Should not be in business so avoid.' Mr Helm is arguing he was sharing the 'truth and honest opinion'. He is also seeking damages for breach of contract. Richard Spearman KC, who dealt with the preliminary hearing, said: 'Looking at the review in the round, it seems to me that it plainly contains some statements of opinion and some statements of fact.' Mr Johnson said: 'I'm sick and tired of customers who think they can do what they want and think they can get away with it. 'I've lost two jobs that came up to about £19,000 because of this. 'I asked him [Mr Helm] to take it down and he said no, I had no choice but to take him to court to take it down.' The case continues.
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Zaid, partners appeal dismissal of libel suit against ex-Bar president
Zaid Ibrahim, Liew Teck Huat, and Rueben Mathiavaranam are appealing against the High Court's dismissal of their lawsuit against the Malaysian Bar and ex-president Karen Cheah for libel, breach of statutory duty, and conspiracy to injure. PETALING JAYA : Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim and two others have filed an appeal to overturn a High Court decision dismissing their libel suit against the Malaysian Bar and its former president over statements concerning their conduct in Najib Razak's final SRC International appeal. Lawyers Liew Teck Huat and Rueben Mathiavaranam, the co-appellants, confirmed that the notice of appeal was filed well ahead of its 30-day deadline. The appeal is from a ruling delivered by Justice Roz Mawar Rozain on May 29. 'We are now preparing the memorandum of appeal for the Court of Appeal to state where the trial judge erred. It will be filed by Aug 28,' Mathiavaranam told FMT. Roz Mawar said Zaid, now in legal practice, Liew and Mathiavaranam had failed to prove on a balance of probabilities that they were defamed in a media statement issued by then Bar president Karen Cheah. The judge also dismissed the trio's claims for conspiracy to injure and breach of statutory duty under the Legal Profession Act 1976. The suit was filed on Sept 30, 2022 over Cheah's statement titled 'Abuse of process brings disrepute to our justice system'. The plaintiffs contended that Cheah's remarks implied that the three lawyers had 'undermined the justice system through unscrupulous strategies'. The statement, published on Aug 19, 2022, was carried by several media organisations on the same day. The plaintiffs alleged that the words in the press statement were calculated to 'disparage, besmirch and damn' them in their professional capacities as advocates and solicitors. Najib appointed Zaid's law firm on July 25, 2022 to replace Shafee & Co as solicitors in his final SRC International criminal appeal before the Federal Court. Hisyam Teh Poh Teik was named lead counsel, replacing Shafee Abdullah. Roz Mawar agreed that the media statement had identified the plaintiffs and was published as alleged. However, she said the words, in their natural and ordinary meaning, were not defamatory of the plaintiffs. The judge said the plaintiffs themselves had, before the publication, made multiple public disclosures, including press interviews, social media postings, and commentaries. Roz Mawar said the court also found no evidence to support the plaintiffs' claim of conspiracy to injure and breach of statutory duty.
Irish Times
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Irish influencers trolled on Tattle life: ‘They said I'm a bad mum. That I'm ugly. They wrote my address on it'
Earlier this week, Co Antrim entrepreneurs Neil and Donna Sands were awarded £300,000 (€352,000) in libel damages following a defamation and harassment lawsuit over abusive comments posted on gossip website Tattle Life. Tattle Life describes itself as a platform for 'commentary and critiques of people that choose to monetise their personal life as a business and release it into the public domain'. Users post messages and discuss influencers and others with an online profile, many of whom complain they are being trolled. A number of Irish influencers have been the subject of negative 'threads' on Tattle Life. The judge in the case, heard in Belfast , said it had been set up to deliberately inflict hurt and harm on others by allowing the anonymous trashing of people's reputations. The site was revealed on Friday, June 13th, as being operated by UK national Sebastian Bond. Julie Haynes' Instagram account Twins and Me has 218,000 followers. She first became aware of Tattle Life when one of her own online followers sent her a link to a comment posted about her on the site, she says. READ MORE 'I was sent a screenshot and then I went on and I was scrolling through the threads, and I was like, what the hell? ... They were saying stuff like I take drugs.' None of it was true, she says. 'Writing stuff like that is absolutely horrific,' Haynes says, but it didn't stop there. Haynes' father died during Covid. 'We had five people at the funeral. Me, my mam, my brother and my twins. And we had a camera set up in the church because we were allowed to do that at the time, and you just basically livestreamed it and family and friends at home were able to tune in. The link then was put up on Tattle Life and every single one of my trolls tuned in.' Her young son needed to go to the toilet during the funeral, and so she brought him. Comments followed that she had 'walked out of the church' and that the funeral was like 'an episode of EastEnders'. 'Every single move I made' was commented on, Haynes says. 'She's drunk, that's why she's run out of the church. She had to go get sick.' Julie Haynes and her children Erin Rose and Fionn Haynes says she has seen comments stating that she's 'a bad mum. That I'm ugly'. Her mother had breast cancer two years ago and had a mastectomy. Haynes shared her mother's experience with her followers, but because her mother's recovery was deemed quick by some she was accused of making the story up 'for content'. 'They wrote my address on it, saying that 'I'd love to go down Julie's house in X and kick ... her. They write about my children all the time. What they call my kids is absolutely horrific, they screenshot them. I'm so, so upset.' [ Women in Ireland increasingly subjected to online hate and misogyny, groups warn Opens in new window ] Haynes says she has considered taking her children offline. 'No one should be calling these children those names,' she says. Her social media presence is an income source. 'Only for my social media, I'd have nothing,' she says. 'I'm a single mum … I do all this for my kids. And the only way I can go for [a] mortgage is by working. To earn a couple of bob I do my social media but these trolls, then, are trying to ruin it.' For brands looking to work with influencers, 'the first thing you do is check Google and the first thing that pops up when you put in my name is all these Tattle threads'. Louise Cooney has 250,000 followers on Instagram. She became aware of Tattle Life around the time of the Covid pandemic. 'It has completely changed my life for the last five years. It's something I've never spoken about. It's incredibly traumatising and hurtful. Some of the things that have been said and written, and not having control over your digital footprint in that way, is really upsetting,' says Cooney. Louise Cooney: 'It's like a free-for-all because no one has put in rules' 'It's made me less trusting of people,' she says. 'It makes me second-guess people's intentions. And it makes me question everything that I do, how I share.' She says it's good to be cautious about sharing. Cooney stays away from the site as much as possible. She says she doesn't want the upset and stress it causes her to have an impact on her toddler son. 'Once or twice I've had a weak moment ... All it does is upset me. Why do I look? But then, if you know it's there and other people can read it, sometimes curiosity can get the better of you,' she says. 'We grew up in a generation ... we're the first ones doing this, and it's like a free-for-all because no one has put in rules.' Cooney says some people who believe that comment posted on the internet is anonymous and that they can't be traced perhaps don't realise that 'technology is advancing all the time. And of course it can be traced.' The experience has had an effect on her mental health: 'I definitely experience anxiety because of it.' Sisters Sue Jordan and Corrina Stone have, combined, almost 66,000 followers on Instagram and run the Mums on the Run group on Facebook. Sue Jordan and Corrina Stone Jordan first became aware of Tattle Life a few years ago when someone sent her a link to a thread, after she had been on the Elaine show with presenter Elaine Crowley on Virgin Media. Jordan had kept her job, working in frontline homeless services, very separate from her online presence, never speaking about her work due to its sensitive nature, she says. 'So to have people go on there and say this is what I do, keep an eye out for me, it put me in danger … I never shared that information ever. How dare anybody do that? But then it evolved into calling me an alcoholic. No such thing, never was. This is stuff that could actually affect my real-life job.' She describes what happens on Tattle Life as 'systemic harassment and abuse'. Tattle Life has had a 'massive' impact on Stone. She says there have been posts saying her children have a 'horrendous upbringing' and that they 'hate' her. 'They tried to savage my kids, my older kids, their dress sense, their fashion sense, their choices – everything,' Stone says. She says she has mostly stopped attending events. 'I think it's because I don't want to put myself out there any more to be slapped down every time. It's constantly in your head.' 'I've stopped going out generally. Other than school runs and groceries ... I've a tiny friend circle,' she says.
The Sun
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Fresh twist as Wagatha Christie battle between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy makes legal history
THE Wagatha Christie libel fight between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy has made legal history — with the judgment shaping case law. Decisions made in the celebrity battle have been used by a judge to settle a row between siblings. 3 3 It was applied to Andrew Wills' legal fight with sister Bernadette Rogers who wanted £135,000 for looking after their dying mum. Judge Paul Matthews urged them to settle their dispute by mediation before drawing on Vardy vs Rooney judge Mrs Justice Steyn's verdict. He said he was allowed to draw an inference about a participant if they had failed to provide documents which should have been disclosed. In his judgment, he noted: 'Steyn J applied the principle in the case of Vardy v Rooney (2022) where an order was made for the inspection of the telephone of the claimant's witness, but the phone was allegedly lost overboard whilst on a boat trip a few days later.' Judge Matthews was referring to Vardy's then-agent, Caroline Watt, whose phone was apparently lost off Scotland days after 39-year-old Coleen's lawyers asked to search it for WhatsApp chats. Mrs Justice Steyn later ruled Becky, 43, and Miss Watt leaked stories about Coleen, who was seen on holiday in Ibiza this week with footballer husband Wayne. The couple were spotted at the Cala Bassa Beach Club in Ibiza, with Wayne sporting a full beard and a black baseball cap. Major blow for Becky Vardy as Coleen Rooney WINS latest Wagatha Christie battle 3
BBC News
13-06-2025
- BBC News
Tattle Life: County Antrim couple awarded £300k in legal battle
A County Antrim couple have been awarded £300,000 in libel damages after they sued controversial gossip website, Tattle Neil and Donna Sands secured the pay-out in a defamation and harassment lawsuit over abusive comments posted on the defendant companies and suspected operator of the site, Sebastian Bond, can now be revealed after reporting restrictions were lifted at Belfast's High Court on couple obtained £150,000 in damages each as well as legal costs in December 2023 after suing over what they regarded as "hate speech". The website which hosts threads commenting on influencers, celebrities and general members of the public has attracted up to 12 million visitors a judge said the site had been set up to deliberately inflict hurt and harm on others by allowing the anonymous trashing of people's reputations. What happened? Neil Sands, 43, a technology entrepreneur and his 34-year-old wife Donna who has a fashion business, sued over posts made in February claimed they were subject to a campaign of harassment, invasion of privacy, defamation and breach of data legal battle lasted two years and was undertaken at the cost of Mr and Mrs Sands.A series of freezing orders for more than £1m were also made while a worldwide forensic investigation was carried out to identify the defendants and their defendants can now be identified as UK national Sebastian Bond and the British and Hong Kong-registered companies Yuzu Zest Limited and Kumquat Tree Limited.A barrister argued it was now beyond doubt that Mr Bond operated the outside court, Mr Sands said the case had been taken on behalf of others who have suffered serious personal and professional harm through anonymous online legal efforts are expected to focus on securing enforcement of the damages award.
