Kevin Winters, Niall Murphy, Joseph McVeigh, Gerard McNamara, Michael Crawford, Paul Pierce and KRW Law LLP and News Group Newspapers Limited
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | McFarland J |
| Judgment Date | 24 August 2023 |
| Neutral Citation | [2023] NIKB 85 |
| Date | 24 August 2023 |
| Court | King's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2023] NIKB 85
Judgment: approved by the court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: McF12245
ICOS No: 16/123266
Delivered: 24/08/2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
KING’S BENCH DIVISION
___________
Between:
KEVIN WINTERS
NIALL MURPHY
JOSEPH McVEIGH
GERARD McNAMARA
MICHAEL CRAWFORD
PAUL PIERCE
KRW LAW LLP
Plaintiffs
v
NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LIMITED
Defendant
__________
Mr F O’Donoghue KC with Mr P Girvan (instructed by KRW Law Solicitors) for the
Plaintiffs
Dr T McGleenan CBE KC with Mr J Scherbel-Ball (instructed by A & L Goodbody
Solicitors) for the Defendant
___________
McFARLAND J
Introduction
[1] This judgment sets out my ruling in respect of applications in two summonses
issued by the plaintiffs on 24 February 2023 and 15 March 2023 for leave to amend
their statement of claim, for a variety of orders relating to discovery and production
of specified documents, and the issue of a subpoena duces tecum.
Background
[2] By writ of summons issued on 16 December 2016 the plaintiffs and two other
plaintiffs claimed damages for harassment, defamation, breach of privacy and data
2
protection, and breach of copyright. The claim arises out of the publication by the
defendant in its newspaper The Sun and the on-line version of that newspaper of
articles on 7 December 2016, 8 December 2016 and 10 December 2016.
[3] The two other plaintiffs (one a former member of the KRW Law LLP practice
and the other a former employee) have now discontinued their involvement in the
proceedings and the proceedings are being continued by the seven plaintiffs, the first
six being members of the seventh plaintiff.
[4] I have set out below the dates of the pleadings and two judgments relevant to
this application:
(a) Writ of summons dated 16 December 2016
(b) Statement of claim served 6 February 2017
(c) Defence served 9 March 2017
(d) Reply to defence served 21 April 2017
(e) Amended statement of claim served 15 June 2017
(f) Judgment of Stephens LJ dated 6 November 2017 ([2017] NIQB 100) (“the
meanings judgment”)
(g) Second amended statement of claim served 30 November 2017
(h) Amended defence served 21 December 2017
(i) Judgment of McFarland J dated 19 April 2023 [2023] NIKB 45
[5] The court has been assisted by the written and oral arguments presented by
counsel for the defendant and the plaintiffs.
The first summons
[6] The plaintiffs issued this summons on 21 February 2023 seeking the following
orders (which I have summarised for the purpose of brevity):
(a) Leave to further amend their statement of claim and reply to defence in terms
specified in schedules to the summons;
(b) Discovery by the defendant and its journalist Thomas Zoltan Newton
(“TZN”) in respect of documents relating to –
To continue reading
Request your trial