The Court of Appeal has reduced from €140,000 to €36,000 the damages to be paid to a Dublin solicitor for a defamatory broadcast on TV3.
The voiceover in nine-second clip during a news broadcast had referred to the fraudster Thomas Byrne but the footage shown was only of Mr Byrne’s solicitor, David Christie. Mr Christie sued and the High Court assessed compensation at a starting point of €200,000, but reduced the figure by 33 % to reflect the broadcaster’s apology and offer of amends.
In the Court of Appeal Judge Gerard Hogan said he thought €200,000 was too high a starting point, even though the defamation was clearly a serious one:
“For my part, taking account all relevant factors – a once-off nine second broadcast, the fact that the plaintiff was not named, the very limited range of viewers who might think that the news item referred to Mr Christie, the absence of any animus towards the plaintiff, coupled with the fact that it was plainly a case of mistaken identity – I consider that these mitigate the otherwise very serious nature of the defamation. In the light of these factors, therefore, it is sufficient to state that this is not a defamation which would warrant a starting point in damages of €200,000 identified by the trial judge and that in these circumstances a starting point of €60,000 is appropriate and proportionate.”
He then decided to reflect the apology and offer of amends with a 40 per cent discount, for a final figure of €36,000.
The judgment provides a useful consideration of the parameters of the apology and offer of amends provisions of the Defamation Act 2009, and may be found on the Courts Service website at:
http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/0/F8433ED07B39B2308025811700311222