Robert Lawrence Weston (Claimant/ Respondant) v Kenneth William Bates (First Defendant/ Appellant) Leeds United Football ClubSecond

JurisdictionEngland & Wales
JudgeSir Michael Tugendhat
Judgment Date11 November 2015
Neutral Citation[2015] EWHC 3070 (QB)
Date11 November 2015
CourtQueen's Bench Division
Docket NumberCase No: HQ10D02911

[2015] EWHC 3070 (QB)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

Before:

Sir Michael Tugendhat

On appeal from Master McCloud

Case No: HQ10D02911

Between:
Robert Lawrence Weston
Claimant/ Respondant
and
Kenneth William Bates
First Defendant/ Appellant

and

Leeds United Football ClubSecond
Defendant/Responde

Mr Simon Myerson QC (instructed by Messrs Weightmans) for the Claimant

Mr Justin Rushbrooke QC and Mr Jacob Dean (instructed by Messrs Carter-Ruck) for the First Defendant

Mr Daniel Lewis (instructed by Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors LLB) for the Second Defendant

Hearing dates: 8 th October and 11 th November

Insert Judge title and name here:

Introduction

1

In this libel action the First Defendant ("Mr Bates") appeals against the Order of Master McCloud of 9 March 2015, whereby she refused his application to strike out the claim pursuant to CPR 3.4(2)(b) and/or (c). The Second Defendant has taken no part in the argument. It supported Mr Bates's application to the Master (by way of letter to the Court) but did not seek permission to appeal her decision. It is therefore technically a Respondent, but will be referred to as "the Second Defendant" in this document to avoid confusion. The Claimant/Respondent will be referred to as "Mr Weston".

Factual introduction

2

There are three publications complained of, each made as long ago as August, September and October 2009. All of them were in hard copy, and none on the internet. At the time the words complained of were published Mr Bates was Chairman of the Second Defendant. He sold his interest in the Second Defendant in December 2012 and has had no involvement in its management since then.

3

Mr Weston, through his Jersey company The Phone-in-Trading-Post Ltd trading as Admatch ("Admatch"), had provided credit card processing services to the Second Defendant's predecessor in title, Leeds United Association Football Club Ltd ("LUAFC") for a period in 2004. At that time Mr Weston's friend and business partner, Mr Levi, was a director of the Club. In January 2005 a consortium led by Mr Bates took control of LUAFC, and Mr Bates became Chairman.

4

In December 2005 the Second Defendant's predecessor in title issued proceedings against Admatch to recover amounts owing pursuant to the credit card processing agreement ("the First Jersey action"). Those proceedings were ongoing as of the date of the publications complained of. The course of those proceedings was subsequently summarized by the Bailiff in his judgment in Leeds United Football Club Ltd v Admatch [2011] JRC016A (19 January 2011). Admatch's defence was largely being conducted by Mr Weston in person. Admatch's defence was that it was entitled to set-off the sum claimed against sums which another company linked to Mr Weston was said to have advanced. The card processing agreement had been the subject of a number drafts, and this defence was based on a draft ("The Fourth Draft Agreement") which Mr Weston alleged had been entered into by agreement between himself for Admatch, and Mr Levi for the Second Defendant.

5

Neither Mr Weston nor Mr Bates reside, or has resided, in this jurisdiction at any time material to this action. Mr Weston resides in Jersey and Mr Bates in Monaco.

6

Of the three publications made in 2009, the first was in the form of a letter to Leeds United season ticket holders, and the other two in the form of articles in the programmes distributed at home matches. They were each written by Mr Bates in his capacity as chairman of the Second Defendant. It is common ground that the first publication was on an occasion of qualified privilege, but the other two were not.

7

There are differences between the words complained of in each publication. But for present purposes, it is sufficient to set out the words complained of in the first publication (which form one paragraph in a two page document printed in small type), and a part of the words complained of in the second publication.

8

In the first publication Mr Weston complains of the following:

"On a related note, Levi's business partner, Robert Weston, who is the former husband of Levi's current wife and who served a jail sentence for perverting the course of justice, has lost his battle in the Jersey High Court to avoid paying costs to date in our attempt to recover the £190,400 which Weston has admitted Admatch (his company) owes to Leeds United. He claims that Admatch has no assets, in which case has he taken the money which should have been held on trust? If this is so, you can imagine what further offence(s) may have been thrown up".

9

In the second publication Mr Weston complains of (amongst other words) the following:

"One would have thought that Mr Weston would want to resolve the matter, get into court win his case and get on with life. Not a bit of it! Every possible delay – including medical problems – has been thrown up…"

10

The defamatory meanings complained of in respect of the three publications, can be summarized into three main categories: Mr Weston was personally liable for the costs of the First Jersey action; that there are grounds to believe that he acted in breach of trust by dissipating monies owed by Admatch to the Second Defendant; and he had invented or exploited illness in order to delay progress in the First Jersey action. The court has not been asked to determine the meanings of the words complained of, but it is common ground between the parties that the meanings are not within what is commonly called Chase Level 1 (actual guilt), but fall into one or other of the lower two levels, namely there being reasons to believe that he acted in this way.

11

These proceedings were issued on 30 July 2010, the last day of the limitation period for the first publication complained of. Proceedings were then served on the Second Defendant on 30 November 2010, the last day of validity of the Claim Form. The Particulars of Claim included a complaint about a further publication which had taken place after the Claim Form was issued, in September 2010. There was at that time no application to amend the Claim Form.

12

ln December 2010 the Second Defendant issued proceedings against Mr Weston and Mr Levi personally in Jersey, seeking payment of the sum said to be due from Admatch, by reason of Mr Weston's alleged breach of trust in relation to the monies owed under by Admatch ("the Second Jersey Action").

13

These libel proceedings were served on Mr Bates in Monaco in January 2011. Mr Bates acknowledged service stating an intention to contest jurisdiction, disputing that valid service had taken place. The Second Defendant served its Defence on 9 June 2011, taking the point that no proceedings had been issued in relation to the September 2010 publication. ln August 2011 the Second Jersey action was stayed, on Mr Weston's application, on the basis that England was a more appropriate forum for the claim than Jersey.

14

On 8 September 2011 Mr Weston issued an application to amend his Claim Form in these libel proceedings, seeking to introduce the September 2010 publication. However, that application was not heard until 9 March 2015. The interval between those dates includes a two year period, March 2012 to April 2014, relied on by Mr Bates as a delay constituting a breach of the CPR by Mr Weston. When that application was ultimately heard, it was refused, and there was no appeal against the Master's decision to refuse the application. The action is therefore proceeding on the 2009 publications alone.

15

In October 2011 the Second Defendant issued proceedings against Mr Weston (and Mr Levi) in England, seeking payment of the sum said to be due from Admatch, by reason of Mr Weston's alleged breach of trust ("the Chancery Division proceedings").

16

By order dated 6 February 2012 Master McCloud dismissed Mr Bates's application to set aside service in the libel claim. She gave Mr Bates permission to appeal against that part of her order. She also ordered that time for service of Mr Bates's Defence, and Mr Weston's Reply, be extended to 14 days after the determination of Mr Weston's outstanding application to amend his Claim Form. But the order contained no time limit, or other directions, as to when the application to amend was to be heard.

17

On 15 March 2012 Mr Bates 's appeal from Master McCloud's decision on the service issue was dismissed (by myself). 15 March 2012 marks the start of the second period of delay relied on by Mr Bates.

18

On 10 July 2012 Mr Bates indicated consent to the amendment of the Claim Form sought by Mr Weston, on conditions as to costs. These conditions were never met. Mr Bates chased for a response to that letter on 17 August 2012, and again on 3 September 2012, none was forthcoming.

19

Then on 25 March 2014 Mr Weston wrote to the Defendants suggesting that the claim had been "effectively stayed" by Master McCloud on 6 February 2012. He referred to Mr Bates's letter of 10 July 2012 and asked for consent to the amendment to the Claim Form. Mr Bates replied on 17 April 2014 disputing that the clam had been stayed, inviting Mr Weston to discontinue given his delay, and indicating an intention to apply to strike out the claim should it be pursued. Mr Weston sought a date for the hearing of his application to amend, and this marked the end of the two year period of delay relied on by Mr Bates.

20

It was in those circumstances that the application to amend came on for hearing before Master McCloud on 9 March 2015, after a further delay (not the fault of Mr Weston) of about one year. By then it was five years and seven months after the first publication complained of. Mr Bates had issued his application to strike the claim out as an abuse and for failure to comply with the rules on 10 February 2015.

21

The claim has made no...

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