Turkington and Others (Practising as McCartan Turkington Breen) v Times Newspapers Ltd
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 23 October 1998 |
| Date | 23 October 1998 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
- Mitigation - Duplication of damages - Plaintiffs recovering damages in respect of publication of words to same effect as words on which action founded - Trial judge's direction to jury - Whether direction given to jury sufficient - Aggravated damages - Whether unfairness or inaccuracy of report increasing hurt to plaintiff's feelings - Amount of award - Whether excessive - Proportionality - Defamation Act (Northern Ireland), 1955, s. 7, Sch., para. 9 -Defamation Act (Northern Ireland), 1955, s. 12.
The respondents were partners in a firm of Belfast solicitors who brought an action for damages for libel contained in an article in the issue of The Times published on 24 January, 1995. Several allegations were made in the article about the respondents' conduct of the defence of Private Lee Clegg in Belfast Crown Court and of the latter's subsequent appeal to the Court of Appeal. The material part of the article of which the respondents complained purported to be a report of a press conference held the previous day, at which statements were made about the respondents' conduct of Private Clegg's defence which reflected adversely upon their professional competence. Admission to the press conference was restricted to press representatives or persons specifically invited. At the trial of the action the appellant, the printer and publisher of The Times newspaper, did not dispute that the words written were defamatory of the respondents and abandoned the plea of fair comment contained in the original version of its defence. The sole ground of defence, apart from the issue of the amount of damages, was that the article was protected by the statutory qualified privilege of newspapers contained in s. 7 of the Defamation Act (Northern Ireland), 1955, (the 1955 Act). The trial judge ruled that the appellant was not entitled to rely upon this defence on the ground that the press conference did not constitute a public meeting within the meaning of para. 9 of the Schedule to the 1955 Act. On 11 October, 1996, judgment was entered for the sum of £145,000 and costs in favour of the respondents. The appellant appealed, contending on the issue of liability that the press conference constituted a public meeting within the meaning of para. 9 on the grounds that (a) some members of the public were present and took part in the proceedings without objection; (b) (i) the members of the press constituted on...
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