ERY v Associated Newspapers Ltd

David Sherborne and Julian Santos (instructed by Lee and Thompson) for the Claimant Andrew Caldecott QC and Adam Wolanski (instructed by Reynolds Porter Chamberlain) for the Defendant ____________________

i) When asked by me if the Defendant was prepared to give an undertaking not to publish any reference to the Claimant's interview under caution, Mr Caldecott QC, on the Defendant's behalf, declined to do so. Mr Sherborne argues that the Defendant's unwillingness to do so means that the Claimant's fear that such publication will take place remains justified. He refers me to the approach of Dingemans J. in Weller v Associated Newspapers Ltd [2014] EWHC 2127 (QB).

ii) In any event, 24 hours' notice of any change in that intention is inadequate.

i) The Defendant has made its intention clear. Moreover, in the course of the hearing, he accepted that publication of the fact that the Claimant had been interviewed under caution would engage the Claimant's rights under Article 8 and he would not submit (as matters presently stood) that the Defendant's Article 10 rights should prevail. The inevitable conclusion of these concessions was that, as matters presently stood, Article 8 would preclude publication of the fact of the interview under caution.

iii) 24 hours' notice of any change in the Defendant's intention regarding non-publication of the fact of the interview under caution would be sufficient for the Claimant to invoke the assistance of the Court, if that was what he wished.