Morgan v Odhams Press Ltd

Last updated

Morgan v Odhams Press Ltd
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg
Court House of Lords
Full case nameMorgan v Odhams Press Ltd
Decided1971
Citation(s) [1971] q WLR 1239; [1971] 2 All ER 1156 (HL)
Cases cited Hough v London Express Newspaper Ltd , Jones v E Hulton & Co , Knupffer v London Express Newspaper Ltd , E Hulton & Co v Jones
Legislation citedNone
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting Lord Guest, Lord Morris of Borth-y-gest
Keywords
Defamation, identification of the plaintiff

Morgan v Odhams Press Ltd clarified the law in England regarding identification of the plaintiff in an action for defamation.

Contents

Claim

A newspaper article in The Sun (then owned by Odhams Press [1] ) reported on the kidnapping of a young woman by a dog-doping gang. The woman had been staying at the home of Mr. Morgan, a journalist, [2] at the time of her kidnap.

Morgan claimed that even though the article did not mention him in any way, it implied to those who knew that the woman was staying with him that he was a member of the gang. [3]

Judgement

Lord Morris of Borth-y-gest ruled that even though the plaintiff was never referred to by name, nor was he even directly implicated upon strict reading of the defamatory article, he was still sufficiently identified. This was because a substantial group of people who knew the plaintiff understood that it referred to him. Lord Morris held that this was sufficient, even though no-one called to give evidence in fact believed the allegations to be true. [3]

Related Research Articles

In law, standing or locus standi is a condition that a party seeking a legal remedy must show they have, by demonstrating to the court, sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case. A party has standing in the following situations:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piers Morgan</span> British journalist and television host (born 1965)

Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid The Sun. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the News of the World by Rupert Murdoch, which made him the youngest editor of a British national newspaper in more than half a century. From 1995, Morgan edited the Daily Mirror, but was fired in 2004. He was the editorial director of First News from 2006 to 2007. In 2014, Morgan became the first editor-at-large of the MailOnline website's US operation.

Intentional infliction of emotional distress is a common law tort that allows individuals to recover for severe emotional distress caused by another individual who intentionally or recklessly inflicted emotional distress by behaving in an "extreme and outrageous" way. Some courts and commentators have substituted mental for emotional, but the tort is the same.

<i>Daily Herald</i> (United Kingdom) British daily newspaper, published in London from 1912 to 1964, and precursor of The Sun

The Daily Herald was a British daily newspaper, published daily in London from 1912 to 1964. It was published in the interest of the labour movement and supported the Labour Party. It underwent several changes of management before ceasing publication in 1964, when it was relaunched as The Sun, in its pre-Murdoch form.

The Almighty Vice Lord Nation is the second-largest and one of the oldest street and prison gangs in Chicago, Illinois. Its total membership is estimated to be between 30,000 and 35,000. It is also one of the founding members of the People Nation multi-gang alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bride kidnapping</span> Practice in which someone abducts the person they wish to marry

Bride kidnapping, also known as marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a practice in which a man abducts the woman he wishes to marry.

Fair comment is a legal term for a common law defense in defamation cases. It is referred to as honest comment in some countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Ilan Halimi</span> 2006 kidnapping, torture, and murder of a young man in France

The murder of Ilan Halimi was the kidnapping, torture, and murder of a young Frenchman of Moroccan Jewish ancestry in France in 2006. Halimi was kidnapped on 21 January 2006 by a group calling itself the Gang of Barbarians. The kidnappers, believing that all Jews are rich, repeatedly contacted the victim's modestly placed family demanding very large sums of money. Halimi was held captive and tortured for three weeks, and died of his injuries. The case drew national and international attention as an example of antisemitism in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Touhy</span> Irish American mob boss

Roger Touhy was an Irish American mob boss and prohibition-era bootlegger from Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. He is best remembered for having been framed by his rivals in Chicago organized crime for the fake 1933 kidnapping of Jewish-American organized crime figure and Chicago Outfit associate John "Jake the Barber" Factor, a brother of cosmetics manufacturer Max Factor Sr.. Despite numerous appeals and at least one Federal court ruling freeing him, Touhy spent 26 years in prison until he was finally exonerated and released in November 1959. In retaliation for filing a lawsuit against acting boss Tony Accardo and other senior Mafiosi, Touhy murdered in an alleged contract killing by the Chicago Outfit less than a month after his release.

<i>Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd</i> Leading English defamation case of 1999

Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd was a House of Lords case in English defamation law concerning qualified privilege for publication of defamatory statements in the public interest. The case provided the Reynolds defence, which could be raised where it was clear that the journalist had a duty to publish an allegation even if it turned out to be wrong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odhams Press</span> Former British publishing company

Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and then IPC Magazines in 1963. In its final incarnation, Odhams was known for its Power Comics line of titles, notable for publishing reprints of American Marvel Comics superheroes.

Allen v Flood [1898] AC 1 is a leading case in English tort law and UK labour law on intentionally inflicted economic loss.

Modern libel and slander laws in many countries are originally descended from English defamation law. The history of defamation law in England is somewhat obscure; civil actions for damages seem to have been relatively frequent as far back as the Statute of Gloucester in the reign of Edward I (1272–1307). The law of libel emerged during the reign of James I (1603–1625) under Attorney General Edward Coke who started a series of libel prosecutions. Scholars frequently attribute strict English defamation law to James I's outlawing of duelling. From that time, both the criminal and civil remedies have been found in full operation.

<i>The Sun</i> (United Kingdom) British tabloid newspaper

The Sun is a British broadsheet newspaper, published by the News Group Newspapers division of News UK, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Lachlan Murdoch's News Corp. It was founded as a broadsheet in 1964 as a successor to the Daily Herald, and became a tabloid in 1969 after it was purchased by its current owner. The Sun had the largest daily newspaper circulation in the United Kingdom, but was overtaken by freesheet rival Metro in March 2018.

<i>Mogul Steamship Co Ltd v McGregor, Gow & Co</i>

Mogul Steamship Co Ltd v McGregor, Gow & Co [1892] AC 25 is an English tort law case concerning the economic tort of conspiracy to injure. A product of its time, the courts adhered to a laissez faire doctrine allowing firms to form a cartel, which would now be seen as contrary to the Competition Act 1998.

<i>Tabloid</i> (film) 2010 American film

Tabloid is a 2010 American documentary film directed by Errol Morris. It tells the story of Joyce McKinney, who was accused of kidnapping and raping Kirk Anderson, an American Mormon missionary in England, in 1977. The incident, known as the Mormon sex in chains case, became a major tabloid story in the United Kingdom and triggered a circulation battle between two popular tabloid newspapers, the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror.

Sperm theft, also known as unauthorized use of sperm, forced fatherhood, spermjacking or spurgling, occurs when a man's semen is used, against his will or without his knowledge or consent, to inseminate a woman. It can also include deception by a partner about their ability to get pregnant or use of contraceptives, birth control sabotage, and sexual assaults of males that result in pregnancy. Although the term uses the word "theft", it more closely falls under a state of fraud or breach of contract. Sperm theft is not illegal and is difficult to prove. It usually has no bearing on issues like child support. It is considered an issue in the men's rights movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson</span> Alleged kidnapping

On May 18, 1926, Christian evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappeared from Venice Beach, California, after going for a swim. She reappeared in Mexico five weeks later, stating she had escaped from kidnappers there. Her disappearance, reappearance, and subsequent court inquiries regarding the allegation that the kidnapping story was a hoax carried out to conceal a tryst with a lover precipitated a media frenzy that changed the course of McPherson's career.

<i>Maharanee of Baroda v Wildenstein</i>

HRH the Maharanee of Baroda v Wildenstein, was a decision of the English Court of Appeal relating to the conflict of laws, and specifically whether the English courts should take jurisdiction in relation to a claim which had no substantial connections with England on the basis that the defendant was served with proceedings during a brief visit to the country.

The Coterel gang was a 14th-century armed group that flourished in the North Midlands of England. It was led by James Coterel—after whom the gang is named—supported by his brothers Nicholas and John. It was one of several such groups that roamed across the English countryside in the late 1320s and early 1330s, a period of political upheaval with an associated increase in lawlessness in the provinces. Coterel and his immediate supporters were members of the gentry, and according to the tenets of the day were expected to assist the crown in the maintenance of law and order, rather than encourage its collapse.

References

  1. "1964: The Sun newspaper is born". BBC News. 15 September 1964. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  2. MacNae's Essential Law for Journalists, 17th Edition. LexisNexis. 2003. p. 232.
  3. 1 2 Kevin Boone (23 February 2006). "Lawiki.org : Morgan v Odhams Press (1971)" . Retrieved 23 May 2009.