Defamation pre action issue

[Minidog]

I am looking for some advice regarding a defamation claim I am bringing against a school teacher.

I am bringing the case against the teacher personally not the school but it is due to things which were said and / or written down by her whilst at work.

I do not have the teachers personal contact details. I was able to figure out her personal work email based off other teachers personal work email addresses and I know I have the correct one as I contacted the teacher via email asking for a non work correspondence address to serve a letter before action.

The teacher ignored this request but I know she received it as the school phoned the police about me contacting her. The police phoned me told me I broke no criminal laws but that they were phoning me to tell me not to email the teacher personally (which I don't think they have the power to say).

The school have issued a ban relating to me and their premises based off defamatory comments by the teacher, again the police were involved but closed the case with no action purely based on the teachers statement, but did call me telling me not to approach the teacher. Again given they said no laws were broken I do not think they had any right to say such a thing.

This teacher stands on a public street each morning just outside the school for around 15 minutes as part of her job.

The school have told me they won't act as an intermediary in any way so I have concerns about sending the letter via post to her at work and about emailing her work email. I also have reservations about serving her in person on the street.

The question I have is what is the best and safest way to serve the letter? whilst obviously still complying with any service rules and hopefully not having more phone calls from the police.

I am aware of service rules for court applications, docs etc but am unsure if these apply to letters before action. For example I have obviously not been given permission to serve electronically.

Thanks

[atticus]

You can arrange for your letter to be hand delivered to the addressee outside the school one morning. Use a process server if you are unwilling to do it yourself.

BUT under the Defamation Act (2016, I think), in order to bring a claim you need to show "serious harm". Are you sure that this is thebest course for you to take?

[R0b]

Hello

I'm going to state the obvious even if you are aware or not so apologies in advance. Defamation cases are heard in the High Court and are very expensive if to run and even more expensive if you lose. It would be very wise for you to consider getting some professional legal advice on the merits of your case as a few hundred pounds may help you to avoid potentially being on the hook for tens of thousands.

The second point I would raise is, does your letter before action comply with the Pre-Action Protocols for Media and Communications Claims which covers claims related to defamation?

As for serving the LBA on the teacher, it would be sensible to avoid serving it personally since she has already contacted the police and you don't want her claiming that you are harassing her. A couple of options you might want to consider but maybe to have the greatest chances of bringing it to her attention you could:

- use a process server to serve the LBA personally, this will come at a cost.

- try to identify if she has facebook or other social media like twitter, LinkedIn etc and serve it by private message. You may need to be creative by posting the LBA as an image or copy and pasting the LBA in full.

- use a tracing agency to see if they can find a valid address for the teacher. Tracing enquiries can be as cheap as £20 but you get what you pay for and the higher the price the more enhanced report you will receive. Reports that return with an address on the electoral register are likely to prove more fruitful. You could then follow up with the address(es) at the land registry to confirm whether she owns the property and send the letters to each of those properties.

- Send the letter to her workplace addressed to her along with a cover letter explaining that as she has refused to engage with you, you have no choice but to bring it to her attention in the best way possible. Recorded delivery should be your option to prove it was signed and delivered.

You also have to consider the fact that if you don't have an address for service then you are required to take reasonable steps to ascertain her current place of residence. Some of the options above like tracing can be helpful in that regard but if you fail to comply with the rules on service of the claim form, should you get to that stage, you run the risk that if you obtain a default judgment then she will almost inevitably try to have it set aside and you may find yourself in a position where you have to pay her costs if you haven't taken all the steps required. Many people including legal professionals fall foul of the rules on serving a claim form so you need to be very careful.

[atticus]

on the question of legal cost, bear in mind that a teacher may well receive trade union support.

[Minidog]

Thanks for the replies.

Atticus - in relation to the serious harm. I fo feel like I have suffered serious harm and that other serious harm is probable in the future due to this. My reputation with other staff members has suffered particularly with the front facing office staff who treat me very badly. One of my children is now singled out and treated differently by this member of staff. My child broke her wrist at school and I could not even explain to the school what the injury was causing her to be accused of lying. I can no longer attend school events which includes gcse options evening thus affecting the educational welfare of my children. I have been unable to take some required items to the school needed by children affecting their education. My wife is severely disabled with a compromised immune system and if she attends with my children her health could be severely harmed, and she will attend if I can not. Also the police complaints would not have happened if these comments were not made to the school (note I know of absolute privilege with regard to police reports but Its not that which is the basis of the claim , I am unsure if I can use these reports as harm based off the original comments to the school). This is not about financial loss or redress in any way.

In terms of being sure it's the right type of case not 100% but I currently failto see a better route to clear my name. If you or anyone thinks a different type of case is more suitable I am very willing to hear it.

In terms of trade union support I had not considered this.

Rob - yes I am aware of the type of court and legal costs involved. I do not use solicitors or barristers in general. I have been in the high court before although not for defamation. The cost on my side should be very small, I even qualify for fee remission. Its just a lot of photocopying costs for the bundles really. I also know this area of law is seen as complex. I do not go into this with blinkers and know it will be considerable work and a great deal of learning and research, I have done similar with certain areas of law previously. I am willing to put serious work in, most of my experience is in public family law up to and including the RCJ. I do nor expect this to be easy.

The costs on their side - blood and stone analogy applies. I'm not up to date on current case law but the last case I remember said the ability to pay does not stop an order being made, of course collecting on that is a totally different kettle of fish.

My letter is not yet complete but it will comply 100% with the relevant pre action protocol. Following the procedural rules is something I have always tried to ensure in other areas.

In terms of her personal address. Would the fact that I asked her directly to provide this and she refused not count as me taking reasonable steps? I had not considered a tracing agency, I can not locate her on social media.

I think your advice regarding registered post to her work is probably best for the service of the letter, thanks.

I am obviously hopeful that she back down with the issuance of the letter but if she gets her legal fees paid by a union as the other reply mentioned then that could be less likely.

I already submitted a letter before claim to the school for judicial review about a decision they made which led to this incident. This letter was not responded to but they did comply with each of my demands for rectification. The reason I mention this is due to atticus saying am I sure it's the correct case to bring. A thought which popped into my head when writing this is should I challenge the schools decision to ban as opposed to challenging the teacher as I currently intend to. The problem is I fail to see how they did not follow the proper process in coming to the decision to ban, and anything they have not followed would likely be minor, it is however based upon lies. Advice in this area or any is very welcome.

Feel free to ask any questions.

thanks

[islandgirl]

Have you followed all the school and Local Education Authority complaint procedures? Have you involved governors? Would it not be better to move schools if this is impacting your children and they are not yet in the middle of a GCSE year (just a suggestion)

[Minidog]

Islandgirl- yes I have followed the school complaint procedures to the letter. The school have not even saying that complaints which relate to specific sections of legaslative guidance being broke are not valid complaints,other complaints are totally ignored. One of the police reports was for me submitting a complaint in line with their procedures (and asking for correspondence address for letter before action).

I involved ofsted yesterday who have 'passed it to the appropriate team to take any action necessary based on my information'. I involved the teacher regulation agency but they need local procedures exhausted and due to their non compliance I am unsure what if anything is being answered and even what stage some of the complaints are at.

I can not move my children's school, one has lots of friends in the school (her while primary school year is now in the secondary they are even on same site). The other child has a small but exceptionally close group in the school and does not deal with change well. On top of this it is one of the best schools in the area, there is a new head this year and this one teacher who are the problem. Basically I can't make my kids suffer due to 2 staff members incompetance.

I've involved the governors, copied in everything and never responded at all. I've also involved the local mp and the Catholic school inspectorate.

[islandgirl]

Thank you for the full response. What about the LEA?

[Minidog]

Islandgirl The only agencies I can think of that are not yet involved are the dfe and LA. I've spent a lot of time fighting against local authorities in the past (non educational matters) and live in an area where I've never had issues with this LA so the reason I've not involved them is that I do not have good experiences of LA's and like the current status quo so to speak. I'm not sure why I have not contacted the dfe, that's on over sight I will correct tomorrow.

I have copied the school into all the agencies emails etc so they know I've involved outside agencies. I do know LA's hate when every possible outside agency is involved due to 'the significant work it causes them' so I'm hopeful them seeing the exact info I've provided them will spur the school on to act correctly.

There is a lot to this matter and I can deal with the bulk of it. However this school ban, which is punative due to me complaining, is an issue so I'm looking at every way to resolve it. For example I've included the whole serious run up to this ban incident with ofsted and the tra but the mp and Catholic inspectorate I've simply concentrated on getting help with getting the ban lifted. I am thinking that potentially the quickest way will to be get the teacher to back down with the defamation letter, she revokes the comments and the ban would be lifted.

I see your looking for solutions which I appreciate. The majority of my complaints relate to others issues (ie the run up to the ban, unlawful conduct, not following exclusion guidance etc). So many things passed to these agencies are not specific to the ban but obviously those are also included. I am happy to wait out the long time limits of complaints, agency complaint limits etc fir the majority of things, I have no doubt eventually they will find in my favour. The ban however causes me significan immediate concern due my wife's health. So given your looking gor solutions any possible way or tactic you can think of yo get the ban lifted quickly would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot for replying.

[islandgirl]

In my experience as a school governor etc if the school does not follow its own procedures a complaint is made to the LEA. That is the logical next step before the DfE etc. As for defamation action I would take care as everyone says - it can get super expensive very quickly.

[Minidog]

Since you are all querying the validity of the defamation case I have been researching some other possibilities and may (I stress may) have a possible other course. But once again I need a bit of assistance.

I can not find a court case judgement except on paid for sites. I'm looking for a case I seen written as Wandsworth lbc v a (2000). I have found the following case info but still can not locate the judgement in full.


JurisdictionEngland & WalesCourtCourt of Appeal (Civil Division)JudgeBUXTON LJJudgment Date21 December 1999Neutral Citation[1999] EWCA Civ J1221-32Judgment citation (vLex)[1999] EWCA Civ J1221-75Docket NumberCase No: CCRTF 1998/1649Date21 December 1999

Can anyone provide me a link to the judgement or paste it full on here on here for me.

The following I've seen written about the case and the same seems to have been done in my case but I need to read the actual case to see.

The court made a special observation concerning the letter that the headteacher had written where he said he was working under section 547 of the EA 1996. He referred to the bringing of criminal proceedings against persons unlawfully on school premises. The Court of Appeal pointed out that there was no question of criminal action in this case, and it was a matter of concern that the head so far misunderstood his legal powers to have written as if there were.


From the little I've seen on it there are some differences such the parent in the case had a history of bad behaviour in schools (I have the opposite), parent case continued to attend and be abusive after the ban incident whereas it took the school several weeks to issue my ban letter during which time I was invited into the school on 3 occasions with no issues at all fir either side.

Thanks

[islandgirl]

I cannot find the case here but perhaps you can? https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1999/

[Minidog]

Bailli was the first place I searched, perhaps I missed it shall try again.

[islandgirl]

Have you had a hearing in school re this? Usual process (eg when child excluded) is that the parents appeal and the parents and Head or senior member of staff take part in a hearing by governors who then decide if they agree with the Head or not. If they do then you appeal through the LEA I think (no experience beyond the hearing). Check your school policies (should by law be available) and see what happens when parents disagree with the actions of the school. I also think the LEA is worth contacting urgently.

[Minidog]

The exclusion has been over turned already. It did not reach the governer hearing stage of that process. The first stage of that process is the head reviewing it. They over turned it, did not give any real reasons why. The main point in the letter that explained the decision was to point out that they acted lawfully, which they did not.

The decision to over turn happened immediately after I pointed out that they had not responded to my judicial review letter before claim. In order to answer my letter they would have had to admit to points of unlawful conduct and provide info they really did not want to.