Libel & slander

The defendant, in an internal work email, had made libellous comments against the claimant, which caused the claimant serious harm to his reputation, pursuant to s 1 of the Defamation Act 2013. The Queen’s Bench Division, finding that the words complained of had been false, awarded the claimant damages in the sum of £25,965.07, part of which had been an award for aggravated damages made to reflect the defendant’s persistence in taking the matter to trial on defences he would have known had not been true.