Libel and slander—Defamatory words—Words capable of defamatory meaning

Queen’s Bench Division, Nicola Davies J, 26 Jul 2013

The law of defamation does not provide a remedy for inconsequential statements of trivial content or import. It is necessary that there should be some threshold of seriousness to avoid normal social banter or discourtesy resulting in litigation and to avoid interfering with the right of freedom of expression conferred by Art 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. To be defamatory a statement has to substantially affect, in an adverse manner, the attitude of other people towards a person or have a tendency to do so.

The claimant appeared in person. Jonathan Price and Robert Dougans (instructed by Bryan Cave Solicitors) for the defendant.

In 2010, the claimant published under the pseudonym “Scrooby” a book entitled The Attempted Murder of God: Hidden Science You Really Need to Know. In the same year, Professor Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinov published a book called Grand