Ranger ordered to curtail libel claims
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
A FORMER member of the elite Irish Army Ranger wing who is suing the Sunday World for defamation of character has been told by the High Court he must curtail the scope of his claim for damages.
Sunday Newspapers Ltd succeeded yesterday in a bid to force Seamus Griffin to whittle down his claim on the basis that certain imputations he ascribes to an article were not reasonably capable of bearing the defamatory meaning that he contends.High Court President, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, said the June 2010 article by the paper’s Investigations Editor, Nicola Tallant, had stated that a major military investigation was under way into allegations that elite rangers had taken leave of absence to give weapons training in the Seychelles to a squad of armed police nicknamed "The Assassins".
She had said the Army’s Special Investigation Branch was also probing allegations that one or more of a trio, including Griffin, had been involved in purchasing black market arms from South Africa for the Seychelles.
Stating that the "double-jobbing" scandal would be deeply embarrassing for the Army if any of the allegations were proven, she had added that the Army was being dragged into "…financial wranglings with the allegations that serving rangers worked on contracts which involved weapons training for an elite police squad".
Griffin claimed the article meant he had been involved in the illegal purchase of black market arms; improperly took leave of absence to give weapons training to police in the Seychelles; was training members of an armed police squad to act as assassins; was working at a lucrative secondary job which conflicted with his employment; he was the subject of a major military investigation; was forced to retire from the Army and that there were substantial grounds for believing he had acted in the manner described in the article.
Judge Kearns said Oisin Quinn SC, counsel for the newspaper, had contended that the article had made clear at all times that there was a military investigation into allegations that rangers had taken leave of absence to give weapons training to police in the Seychelles.
Mr Quinn had submitted a statement that an inquiry was under way could not be equated by any fair-minded reader as meaning Mr Griffin was guilty of the sort of wrong-doings he had specifically pleaded were suggested in the Sunday World article.
Paul O’Higgins SC, counsel for Griffin, had said the overall layout and get-up of the article had gone much farther than to merely relate that an investigation was in progress.
Mr Justice Kearns said he was satisfied Mr Griffin’s case must be confined to the contention he was the subject of a major military investigation and that there were substantial grounds for believing he had acted in the manner described throughout his overall claim.
"In my view, he is not entitled to contend that the meanings contained in the imputations were that he was actually guilty of such behaviour," the President said.
He said the article contained many statements to the effect that "allegations" only had been raised.
Mr Griffin’s claim for damages will be heard at a later date in a full trial in the High Court.
Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/ranger-ordered-to-curtail-libel-claims-163747.html#.ToLMzxMee1k.facebook#ixzz1ZEKV5o3k
5 comments:
David Pierre's dishonesty is one more reason why we should boycott these sham elections. His last PPB shows how he is quick to copy the dishonest actions of Parti Lepep.
In his PPB, he pretended to represent the opposition while his action shows that he has betrayed the real opposition. He talks about the success of the opposition but forgets to tell us that we are boycotting to have more successes not to stay where we are.
On television, he came across as a poor leader, struggling to read his speech. His PPB was best watched with eyes closed, given his demeanour. He looked very angry and vicious. Most of the PPB was a broadside against the SNP leadership. It was as if he knew he would lose and wanted to use this opportunity for an onslaught on SNP. Parti Lepep was hardly attacked. Again like Parti Lepep, he acted like his opponents in this election were SNP and its supporters.
Like in many previous MDP's PPBs, there was no voter to voice support for David Pierre. No one spoke up for him. And not a single mention or photo of his other 24 accomplices. Mont Buxton, where he is standing, was not mentioned.
David Pierre failed to run on his own record. He failed to explain why he supported James Michel in the last presidential elections and why those brave enough to vote against Michel should now forgive him.
David Pierre failed to explain how he was going to get electoral reforms. In fact he failed to explain whether he in fact wanted electoral reforms.
All that could be detected from his babble was a new relationship with Parti Lepep. But was he not the one who called James Michel a coward in the national assembly at the end of the state of the nation address when James Michel announced a surprise dissolution of the assembly in 2007 ?
In April, we all knew that Pierre resigned from the national assembly and SNP, supposedly to go into private business, just as the presidential election campaign started, because he was not chosen as the vice presidential nominee and leader in waiting. That was a great decision by Ramkalawan. If we doubted Ramkalawan's judgement then, we do not now. Pierre left in a pique, while protesting about how SNP works.
This campaign has exposed his naked political ambitions. But this campaign has also exposed his leadership limitations. Seeing him behaving like a demagogue on SBC in his PPB and looking rather shifty all the time, I would not want to be represented by him in any way whatsoever.
This campaign has shown us that Pierre will do anything and say anything to become Leader of the Opposition even with just one MNA in the national assembly. He says he wants to take the opposition forward. One would expect him to resign if he were to poll fewer than 11 MNAs, 45% and 25,000 votes. But that would run against all that he has told us about him since April.
Dishonest, shifty, treacherous, scheming and no plan. That's the obvious conclusion after watching David Pierre's last PPB.
i hope he loses his case that bastard
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