Claim no: 6CB00392
Date: 16/08/2022
Before:
HHJ Hellman
Between:
Timothy Francis Hayes
-v-
Graham Scott Butters
Statement of reasons for suspended order of committal
1. This statement is made pursuant to paragraph 13 of Practice Direction: Committal for Contempt of Court – Open Court.
2. In relation to Case No: 6CB00392 on 16 August 2022 at the County Court at Central London, HHJ Hellman sentenced Graham Butters (“Mr Butters”) to 28 days imprisonment for contempt of court. The sentence was suspended for 12 months (ie until 4 pm on 15 August 2023). The basis of the sentence was as follows.
3. On 19 August 2020, HHJ Hellman made an injunction order. The relevant provisions were that Mr Butters was forbidden (whether by himself or by instructing or encouraging any other person) from:
A. Engaging in contacting or communicating in any way whatsoever either directly or indirectly with Timothy Hayes (“Mr Hayes”)
B. Provided that this would not prevent:
a. communication with Mr Hayes as other party to legal proceedings provided such communication was limited in occasion and content to what was necessary for the conduct of such litigation. For the avoidance of doubt:
i. necessary communications were limited to service of applications, responses to applications, court documents, documents being disclosed and witness statements, skeleton arguments, communications concerning the contents of court bundles, covering letters identifying contents only, and making, accepting or refusing offers;
ii. comment upon the contents of the communication or about any person was not necessary;
iii. justification was not necessary;
iv. statements of background facts (whether agreed or not) were not necessary; and
v. no communication with Mr Hayes was necessary when he had instructed solicitors to deal with a specific matter.
4. The injunction tracked the wording of undertakings given previously by both Mr Butters and Mr Hayes. Its purpose, and that of the undertakings, was to prevent the parties from harassing each other within the meaning of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 through excessive and unnecessary communications, including correspondence generated in the course of litigation. This was in the context of various hard fought and bitter legal actions between them dating back many years.
5. Following some initial procedural hiccoughs, on 8 March 2022 Mr Hayes filed a committal application alleging that over the period September 2020 to...
