Lewis v. Daily Telegraph Ltd.
House of Lords
[1964] AC 234
- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
Two publishers, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, (defendants) were sued for defamation after the publishers published articles about a police and fraud squad inquiry into a firm and local businessman (the defamation victims) (plaintiffs). The defamation victims alleged that the published statements about the fraud inquiry were defamatory because they suggested that the defamation victims were guilty of fraud. The publishers relied on justification as a defense. Based on instructions from the trial judge that the published words suggested either that there was fraud, otherwise there would be no inquiry, or that there was enough in this for the police to suspect fraud, the jury returned verdicts against both publishers. The publishers appealed. The publishers conceded that the words in the articles were capable of some defamatory meaning but contested that they meant that the defamatory victims were guilty of fraud.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lord Delvin, J.)
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