Contempt of court
Weavabel Group Ltd v Christie [2024] EWHC 2298 (KB), [2024] All ER (D) 19 (Sep)
The King’s Bench Division ruled on the claimant company’s application to commit its former managing director, the defendant, for contempt of court. The claimant’s employee made an allegation against the defendant, who was a member of a church (PBCC). The action resulted in a settlement. The defendant was expelled from the PBCC and he sought to expose what he alleged were ‘inappropriate practices’ within it. The claimant brought a claim to enforce the settlement agreement. That claim was settled, and the defendant gave an undertaking (the undertaking) that he would not make derogatory comments about his sons and former wife, who were members of PBCC. The claimant applied for an order to commit the defendant for contempt of court, contending that he had continued to make wide-ranging comments communicated in various methods about the PBCC, which he was entitled to do, but that he had also made derogatory comments about his family (the allegations) in breach of the undertaking. The court held that:
