TV3 must pay solicitor David Christie €140,000 in damages after the High Court found that a news report wrongly identified him as a solicitor on trial for serious offences.
Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley made the award on 12 November 2015, following a hearing to assess damages under the Defamation Act 2009. TV3 had made an unqualified offer of amends and did not defend the defamation proceedings. The court’s decision addressed the amount payable; it did not determine an ordinary contested action before a jury.
The report aired on TV3’s main evening news bulletin on 11 November 2013, while a jury in the trial of former solicitor Thomas Byrne was deliberating. The voice-over described Byrne’s trial and the footage showed Christie, who had represented Byrne, entering the Criminal Courts of Justice. The footage lasted nine seconds. The item was also available online for four days.
TV3 apologised on 15 November, saying there was “absolutely no suggestion” Christie had been on trial for the offences. The court considered that apology less satisfactory than a draft TV3 had offered, which acknowledged that Christie had been wrongly identified as Byrne. TV3 later made a formal offer of amends covering the entire broadcast and its online publication. The parties accepted the offer, but did not agree on compensation.
Christie told the court he had been spat at and called a thief, faced hostile confrontations, and received calls from former clients asking about their documents. Justice O’Malley accepted his evidence that clients had begun questioning how he handled their files and that the public abuse caused distress and humiliation. She did not find that his practice had lost business because of the broadcast.
The judge found the allegation deeply serious because it associated a solicitor with professional disgrace and serious dishonesty. The national broadcast was widespread, though it was a single item rather than a repeated campaign. She rejected TV3’s submission that the incidents could not be attributed to the report, and said that identifying a lawyer with an unpopular client could not reduce the broadcaster’s responsibility.
For a hypothetical fully contested case without mitigating factors, the judge assessed damages at about €200,000. She applied a reduction of about one third for the offer of amends and apology, and awarded €140,000. She allowed no further reduction, citing the limited apology and TV3’s failure during the proceedings to accept responsibility for the reputational damage she found had occurred.