William Hay v Nina Cresswell

Facts

Mr William Hay, a tattoo artist working in Glasgow, brought a libel claim against Ms Nina Cresswell over publications she made in June and July 2020 alleging that he had sexually assaulted her on the night of 27 – 28 May 2010 after they met in the 'Passion' nightclub in Sunderland, where she was then a 20 year old student. The five publications relied upon were a blog on the telegra.ph website, a Facebook message and a subsequent email to the claimant's girlfriend and business partner Ms Emma Sweeney, two Facebook posts and an Instagram post shared to an Instagram story; a Twitter post originally pleaded was not pursued at trial. Ms Cresswell had reported an attempted rape to Northumbria Police at 6.33am on 28 May 2010, but officers decided within hours that the complaint was "not to be crimed", recording inconsistencies in her account and CCTV from a bar near her home. The claimant admitted serious harm and that the words were defamatory, but said that if any assault occurred he was not the perpetrator and the allegation was a deliberate fabrication. The defendant relied on truth under section 2(1) of the Defamation Act 2013, publication on a matter of public interest under section 4 of the Defamation Act 2013 and, for the two publications to Ms Sweeney, qualified privilege. The action was tried in the Media and Communications List over five days.