High Court Judge Reserves Verdict on Effingham Defamation Case

Published on: 28 Jun, 2019
Updated on: 2 Jul, 2019

The High Court sits at the Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London

By Chris Jewers

Former parish councillor James Nicholls launched a defamation claim in London High Court on Wednesday (June 26) against trustees of a charity, Effingham Village Recreational Trust (EVRT).

Mr Nicholls says the defendants sent him a letter claiming he was a “danger to children” and this inferred he was a paedophile, thus defaming him.

The defendants denied they said he had harmed children, and the letter was never published, therefore was not legally defamatory.

Dr Chris Hogger, a former member of the EVRT, told Judge Davison that fighting the defamation charge had cost them more than £4,000, “essentially a whole community’s costs as it came out of the charity’s [EVRT’s] funds”.

Mr Nicholls told the judge: “All I want is, an apology, a retraction and for the accusation to never be repeated.”

He said he was not claiming his £500 costs and simply wanted to be exonerated, adding that since the letter was sent he has suffered verbal abuse from locals, as well as having a lump of concrete thrown at his house, which he reported to the police.

When the Judge asked what should be inferred from this, Mr Nicholls suggested the contents of the letter had somehow been made public. But Dr Hogger said the EVRT “have been scrupulous in keeping that letter confidential”.

Judge Davison said a legal deadline has been missed. Mr Nicholls said issues leading to the court case included misplaced documents, and he had followed the instructions given to him “meticulously”, adding: “All I have ever done is follow the court’s advice and procedures.”

The claim names Elizabeth Hogger (Effingham’s Lib/Dem borough councillor, a parish councillor and former EVRT trustee), Christopher Hogger (former EVRT trustee), Gill Bowerman (former EVRT chairman and trustee), Christopher Iles (current trustee chairman of EVRT) and Susan Morris (former parish clerk and current EVRT trustee), all of whom live in Effingham.

The judge said he will deliver his decision in writing.