Advise on defamation and court

[killer205]

Morning Everyone,

 

 

I need a bit of advise on a matter regarding defamation from a EX.

 

 

Me and my EX split up in March 2011 we had a 3 week old baby, she was using the child to her advantage as a weapon so I decided to involve a solicitor and put an application in to the courts. just before the first hearing in July 2011, my EX decided to make numerous allegations to the police in may 2011 which ended me being on bail until May 2012. in May 2012 all these allegation we concluded ludicrous and no further action was taken but in the mean time I had lost my Job and my EX had been telling people I had done this and that and none of this was true. I also had a court hearing with my EX on the 6th of November this month and in the court room she was still making allegations about me even after the police have concluded there investigations.

 

 

I had racked up a solicitor bill of over £16,000 and I had to move house due to the harassment that my EX had caused with people on my road.

 

 

I have done some research on the internet about defamation, Slander and Liable and all what my EX has done fits into all categories.

 

 

My question is how do I take this throw the courts as I want some of my solicitor fees back also It caused me financial losses due to losing my job, I also want some sort of injunction imposing against her.

 

 

Any help would be appreciated

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi killer205,

 

This is a very specialised area of law and I do think you need to see a solicitor who will tell you how to proceed. At the very least you need an injunction.

 

Did you lose your job on the basis of what she had said about you?

 

Presumably your own solicitor isn't being too helpful here?

 

DD

[killer205]

Hi killer205,

 

This is a very specialised area of law and I do think you need to see a solicitor who will tell you how to proceed. At the very least you need an injunction.

 

Did you lose your job on the basis of what she had said about you?

 

Presumably your own solicitor isn't being too helpful here?

 

DD

 

 

 

yes I lost my job because what she was saying I am unable to use my solicitor as the credit limit has been reached, I was going to act on my own to keep costs down.

[Desperate Daniella]

You are going to need proof of what she has said and although I don't know much about this area of law I think you will have to get signed witness statements from people she defamed you to, especially the people at your job.

 

Is there anything from the Court Hearing you can use?

 

Did you get something from the police confirming that all allegations had been investigated and been found to have no foundation? You will probably need that too.

[andydd]

I very much doubt whether you could pursue this complex case on your own.

 

Now whilst it is possible to claim damages due to the alleged untrue claims it is a specialized area of law. The fact that the police investigation came to nothing doesn't mean (in the eyes of a civil court) that the claims were untrue, although if you have something from the police reaching this conclusion it would be very helpful.

 

Now we at CAG are all for encouraging people to take legal action and become LiP's (Litigants In Person) but this is normally for more simple consumer issues which are allocated to a small claims court (and thus have a low cost risk).

 

Have you tried approaching Legal Aid, whilst this may not be available for damages, it may be available for injunctions. It didn't used to be available for defamation cases but I believe this changed are the famous McLibel case.

[killer205]

You are going to need proof of what she has said and although I don't know much about this area of law I think you will have to get signed witness statements from people she defamed you to, especially the people at your job.

 

Is there anything from the Court Hearing you can use?

 

Did you get something from the police confirming that all allegations had been investigated and been found to have no foundation? You will probably need that too.

 

 

 

I can get statements from people who she has spoken to and Facebook status and emails which she has sent to me I also have a letter from her legal aid family solicitor stating what she has said.

 

 

I have paper work from solicitor confirming that all allegation have been investigated and no further action is being taken, it was verbal spoken in the court room but my grandparent were present along with the judge

[killer205]

I very much doubt whether you could pursue this complex case on your own.

 

Now whilst it is possible to claim damages due to the alleged untrue claims it is a specialized area of law. The fact that the police investigation came to nothing doesn't mean (in the eyes of a civil court) that the claims were untrue, although if you have something from the police reaching this conclusion it would be very helpful.

 

Now we at CAG are all for encouraging people to take legal action and become LiP's (Litigants In Person) but this is normally for more simple consumer issues which are allocated to a small claims court (and thus have a low cost risk).

 

Have you tried approaching Legal Aid, whilst this may not be available for damages, it may be available for injunctions. It didn't used to be available for defamation cases but I believe this changed are the famous McLibel case.

 

 

all the allegations that my EX did were a deploy so I couldn't get 50/50 custody of my son, I have Facebook messages which my EX has wrote to people saying she will do anything to stop me having Custody.

 

 

I haven't tried legal aid yet but I wasn't sure if they would do it.

[Desperate Daniella]

I do agree with andy that this would be very hard for you to do on your own.

 

If you can get legal aid to see a solicitor about the defamation/injunction they may be able to advise you about damages for losing your job too. But you will definitely need proof that her allegations were the reason you lost your job.

 

I think that is the first thing you should check out.

[steampowered]

Sorry to hear about the very difficult situation.

 

The problem with defamation claims is that they need to be brought in the High Court in London. Its quite a complicated area of law.

 

Before taking this further, the key question is whether you would get anything if you win. Does your ex have enough assets to pay the judgment? If she doesn't have any money there is not much point suing her for defamation.

 

If you need an injunction, harassment might be a better route than defamation as harassment claims can be heard in county court and are more straightforward, though you probably wouldn't get an injunction unless the conduct is still ongoing (note that she is free to make accusations in the court room though accusations outside can be restricted).

[killer205]

Sorry to hear about the very difficult situation.

 

The problem with defamation claims is that they need to be brought in the High Court in London. Its quite a complicated area of law.

 

Before taking this further, the key question is whether you would get anything if you win. Does your ex have enough assets to pay the judgment? If she doesn't have any money there is not much point suing her for defamation.

 

If you need an injunction, harassment might be a better route than defamation as harassment claims can be heard in county court and are more straightforward, though you probably wouldn't get an injunction unless the conduct is still ongoing (note that she is free to make accusations in the court room though accusations outside can be restricted).

 

 

Thank you for your reply, the court hearing was for a civil regarding her and her mother entering my property and stealing a number of items.

 

 

all the accusations she was making have been concluded by a police investigation as no evidence, she is only make these up so I can't see my child.

For an injunction would it be the same application as a money claim throw the county courts?

[steampowered]

Thank you for your reply, the court hearing was for a civil regarding her and her mother entering my property and stealing a number of items.

 

 

all the accusations she was making have been concluded by a police investigation as no evidence, she is only make these up so I can't see my child.

For an injunction would it be the same application as a money claim throw the county courts?

 

No getting an injunction is more complicated, and not within small claims (so the loser pays the winners legal costs). If she has stolen items can the police help?

[Riz0]

I agree that you should go down the harassment route in the first instance.

 

Just a couple of points re defamation:

 

1. You won't be able to refer to anything your ex said in court. Court proceedings are "privileged" and any reference to the transcripts of those proceedings etc. are likely to be struck out if she is represented and the judge may do it himself.

 

2. On the other hand, if you have clear evidence of her defaming you, as you suggest (third party/independent witnesses, facebook posts, emails/letters etc.) - it may be that a firm of solicitors is willing to take on your case on a "No Win No Fee" basis. These largely came to halt on 1 April 2013, but Defamation proceedings are exempt from the changes so the solicitors can usually double their fees if they win and obtain insurance in case you lose. I will look up some firms to see if they are willing to do this for you, but like others have said, I wouldn't hold my breath. A lot of specialist Defamation solicitors are used to representing the rich and famous and charging several hundred pounds an hour and unless they are feeling generous they probably have no reason to do a CFA case.

 

3. Steampowered made a good point about your ex's assets, does she own a house (or a % of one)? Does she own any other valuable assets? It is not worth suing someone for damages if he/she doesn't have assets.

 

 

It sounds like you have suffered financial losses of tens of thousands of pounds, not even taking into account any damages for the pain/suffering caused by the harassment - so any claim you issue will not be on the Small Claims Track. Costs will be an issue. Just to break it down for you, if you win you will probably be able to recover your costs from your wife and this will be part of the judgment obtained against her. If you lose however, your wife will be able to claim her costs from you. You can always *attempt* to get your case on to the small claims track if you wish but a judge may not accept your arguments.