St. John’s, Antigua: Opposition Leader and head of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) Lester Bird has emerged victorious in his defamation case against Prime Minister and leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP) Baldwin Spencer and Crusader Publications, according to a report in the Observer.
Bird has been awarded $75,000 in damages. Bird had sued Spencer and the UPP aligned radio station for alleged defamatory remarks he made during a public rally on November 20, 2008. Spencer alleged that Bird had committed serious criminal offences. He also made accusations of corruption and dishonesty against the former Prime Minister. The public meeting was aired live on Crusader Radio making them liable for the defamatory comments.
The Observer report said that High Court Judge Justice Jennifer Remy, in her two-hour long judgment, said the defendant’s (Spencer and Crusader Radio) can not avail themselves of a defence of fair comment in this case, since they must prove that the comments are in fact true and no evidence was provided in this regard. She said she was unable to extract any fair comment from Spencer’s statement and that there were no proven facts before the court to substantiate the comments that were made.
Justice Remy found that Spencer’s remarks were devoid of proof and that there were no “other documentary evidence” presented to the court in support of the allegation. She said the comments were made by a person (Spencer) who is knowledgeable of the law and a politician for a number of years.
In coming to her decision, the judge took a number of aggravating factors into account, including the fact that both parties failed to apologise to Bird even after being written to.
Despite awarding Bird aggravating damages, Justice Remy found that his claim did not meet the threshold for exemplary damages as he requested. She said Bird did not prove that there was a second or subsequent publication of the defamatory statements. Bird was seeking to have the court award him $150,000 and $100,000 for aggravating and exemplary damages respectively.
According to the adjudicator, the statements did not adversely affect Bird’s political reputation since he went on to win his seat in St John’s Rural East during the 2009 General Elections.
The court also refused a claim for injunctive relief. Bird was hoping to get an injunction to bar Spencer, Crusader Radio or any of their agents from publishing and repeating the defamatory statements. Justice Remy ruled there was nothing to show that the defendants threatened or continued to use the comments. The judge recalled that Bird himself during the trial admitted that he never heard the statements again.
The court awarded prescribed costs and an interest rate on the judgment debt at a statutory rate of 5 per cent per annum from the date of the judgment until it is settled. The monies are to be paid by the defendants jointly and severally, the Observer report stated.
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