Tag Archive for 'Defamation'

Defamation again: Mrs Clift wins in the Court of Appeal

By Francis Davey on 23/12/2010. 3 Comments

Last year I blogged about Mrs Clift winning a claim for defamation against Slough Borough Council. The facts are in the earlier post. Slough’s appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal in Clift v Slough Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 1171.

While the point in issue was whether Slough could rely on a defence of qualified privilege against Mrs Clift’s claim, I think the decision has wider implications and is therefore relevant to housing practice. The court’s reasoning on Article 8 of the ECHR should be familiar to housing lawyers. In the court’s view, the publication of damaging allegations about Mrs Clift interfered with her rights under … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note and Various (non-housing). Tags: , , .

On the naughty step

By NL on 30/07/2009. 0 Comments

naughty step badge For this Naughty Step, we’re going trans-atlantic. A warm welcome to the Step for Horizon Group Management, a property owner/management firm from Chicago.

Horizon cannot be said to lack a pioneering spirit (or, as we shall see, a snappy way with a soundbite, catastrophically counter-productive, but snappy). For Horizon are the first firm to bring a defamation claim against a tenant, for a tweet on Twitter.

what is twitterFor those of you looking puzzled or slightly anxious at this point, Twitter is the terribly au courant micro blogging service in which anyone can post a message of up to 144 characters, which will instantly be read by anybody ‘following’ them. Do … Read the full post

Posted in Various (non-housing). Tags: , .

Defamation and anti-social behaviour

By Francis Davey on 14/07/2009. 9 Comments

Clift v Slough Borough Council [2009] EWHC 1550 considers the extent to which a local authority has an interest or duty to pass on allegations about anti-social behaviour to its employees and contractors for the purposes of the defence of qualified to a claim for defamation. It is also an example of the all too common situation of a victim being targeted as a perpetrator.

Background

On the morning of 11 August 2005 Mrs Clift witnessed a group of five people in the public park drinking. A child of about 3 years of age was pulling plants up from a flower bed and damaging other plants. Ms Clift protested at … Read the full post

Posted in ASB, FLW case note and Housing law - All. Tags: , .

Gentoo in the news (again)

By Dave on 14/10/2008. 4 Comments

Gentoo Group Ltd and Peter Walls v Hanratty [2008] EWHC 2328 (QB) is the latest case in the unfortunate saga which comes from the LSVT of Sunderland’s entire housing stock to Sunderland HA, now known as Gentoo. When Gentoo took the housing stock, they did so in the knowledge that it was in substantial need of re-development and the price paid for the stock reflected that. Subsequently, Gentoo engaged in a much wider programme of housing and urban renewal than had previously been planned but the renewal has potentially left Sunderland with a social housing stock deficit because of the number of homelessness applications and more general demand for social … Read the full post

Posted in Various (non-housing). Tags: , , .
row of sheds footer image
1 pages