Yesterday Carole Cadwalladr paid Arron Banks £500,000 in costs financed by deluded crowdfunders, who donated to fund her defence of her untrue Russian conspiracy theories because they wanted to believe in a magical explanation for why they lost the referendum.
Arron magnanimously tells Guido that “I’d like to thank each and every one of the crowdfunders.” Nice…
The Court of Appeal has denied Carole Cadwalladr’s request to appeal her loss to the Supreme Court. In the decision, the court said an appeal to the Supreme Court is only granted when a case “raises an arguable point of law of general public importance”, in the court’s words “this decision does not do so”. Carole wasn’t challenging the court order to pay a third of Banks’ appeal costs, only that she pay 60% of the first proceedings. However, the court ruled that “in our view, there is no arguable case”…
The court records include one further detail which many in the media could do with remembering:
“Ms Cadwalladr does not challenge the court’s decision that Mr Banks was the successful party overall.”
Cadwalladr’s total crowdfunding was in excess of £1.1m – fools and their money. Banks tells Guido “To quote Trump: “ I’m bored of all the winning now!” Time for Carole to get back to journalism…”
Read the full judgement below:
The Court of Appeal has ordered that Carole Cadwalladr must pay 60% of Arron Banks’ legal fees to the tune of £1,242,634*. Having already apologised and coughed up £35,000 in damages, the Court has today ruled she must now find another couple of million down the back of the sofa before the end of the month. Beyond that, and the interest starts raking up at “2% per annum above the Bank of England base rate from time to time”…
The Court said:
“The Claimant was the successful party on the appeal and overall. He has established that the Defendant was responsible for the unlawful publication to 100,000 or more people in this jurisdiction of a serious imputation, which caused serious harm to the Claimant’s reputation, which the Defendant accepts was not true, and which (as she also accepted on appeal) was no longer defensible in the public interest. He has established a right to substantial compensation, now agreed in the sum of £35,000. He has also secured an apology, an acknowledgment of the falsity of the meaning complained of, the amendment of the TED Talk, an undertaking not to repeat the allegation complained of, and the removal of some Tweets…”
Banks tells Guido “victory is final and sweet“. Presumably the mainstream media will actually cover the news this time…
*The total costs in the case are some £3.2 million when you include her own costs.
Arron Banks says Carole Cadwalladr has finally coughed up £35,000 in damages following her appeal court loss in February, along with an apology. She had exactly two weeks from 28th April to hand over the cash. Today is the 14th day…
I received £35k of damages from Carole Cadwalldr today, an apology, an undertaking not to tell fibs again, and the infamous TED talk edited out. Cost decision to follow. Total vindication & a lesson to all journalists to only publish the facts! @jonsopel, as Trump said you beaut
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) May 12, 2023
Banks reckons the total cost decision could see her facing multi-million pound costs. For some reason, most of the mainstream press still haven’t covered this…
The Court of Appeal has today ruled that Carole Cadwalladr will have 14 days to pay £35,000 in damages to Arron Banks. The award follows Carole’s loss in February and acceptance not to repeat claims made against Banks during her 2019 TED talk. The court is also to assess legal costs due from the trial before the Court of Appeal and High Court. A long time coming…
UPDATE: Banks reckons she could be facing multi-million pound costs…
The combined costs exceeded £3m & costs are normally awarded to the person who won damages.. https://t.co/Xq6GZEBbtw
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) April 29, 2023
Lord Justice Warby, in a unanimous decision, rules
“In my judgment, there was no legally admissible evidential basis for the judge’s inference that the TED Talk and Tweet did not cause serious harm because most of those to whom they were published already believed in the truth of the allegation which they contained… Nonetheless, so far as the TED Talk is concerned, I have concluded that the judge’s errors do fatally undermine her conclusion. In my judgment, if those errors are put to one side it was an inevitable inference from the evidence before the judge that publication of the TED Talk after 29 April 2020 caused serious harm to the reputation of the claimant.”
Warby’s ruling in favour of Banks says that this kind of appeal will “rarely” be disturbed in the absence of an “error of principle potentially critical to the outcome”. A high bar, nonetheless the Appeal Court rules Judge Steyn was in error. Judge Steyn’s hopes for promotion taking a knock there…
Banks also won damages to be assessed in respect of publication of the TED Talk.
Full judgement Banks v Cadwalladr 2023 EWCA Civ 219.
