Accused of being on Sex offenders register

Master and commander

A neighbour of my girlfriend is getting trouble and are having all sorts of community groups and and the like looking into him because a woman who is fcuking nuts down at the end of the road put out a rumour that the guy was on the sex offenders register. It was all because he reprimanded a group of young lads who accidentally hit their football of his car in his driveway. She comes marching up and brings her kid home and then comes back, knocks on his door and fcuks him out of it. Then over the past week she went around telling other people she meets that yer man is on the sex offenders register.
Could she be sued for defamation or what?
Has anyone else had experience like this?

I used to help the fella when he was extending his driveway and i used think he was grand. This wan is a crazy aul bat too. She once (years ago) accused my gf of putting bicuits through the sunroof of her car! gf just happened to be walking home from school when yer one discovered the mess, and she marched into my gf's parents and started giving out about how GF and her sister were out of control - they're the quiteest nicest people you'd meet.

Master and commander

how should a person deal with this. have ye heard of this type of thing before

MitchKoobski

I'd get the guards involved straight away. The mad cow needs to be stopped before she makes things any worse for him.

Morag

Yes she can be sued.

Master and commander

he told the guards but he said they told him that there's nothing they can do and said he'd have to go to a solicitor. Typical gardai.

tinkerbell

He should ask to speak to a garda with higher authority then. They need to sort this out. Rumours like that are incredibly damaging and his whole life could be ruined.

Chips Lovell

Defamation would be a civil rather than a criminal matter. He'd have to sue her. The guards can't prosecute her for defamation.

prinz

Master and commander wrote: »

he told the guards but he said they told him that there's nothing they can do and said he'd have to go to a solicitor. Typical gardai.

Typical in that they told him the truth and gave him the best advice you could get on the issue? Tell him to approach a solicitor. A letter from a solicitor might be enough to shut her up.

Master and commander

turns out this is more common than i thought. A fella just told me that a guy he knows had the same thing hapen to him by some ditz girlfriend who went out and broadcast he was a pervert.

Morag

The thing is people can be put on it for very offences.
I now someone who was blitz drunk on his 21st and mooned a mate, unfortunatlly there was a garda across the road and he was done for indecent exposure and ended up on the sex offenders register.

premierlass

If I were the neighbour I'd CC the solicitor's letter to everyone who has repeated the allegation.

Master and commander

Yeah. Going to solicitors and having them send correspondence and all that is a pricey business and a lot of hassle but he needs to do it, since this clearly wasn't the mans fault, she is in the wrong, would he be entitled to recoup the cost of solicitors services from her or would that involve going courts. I hope he does sue her. Fcuking cnut. She has no business doing that.

It all reminds me of the time a scaffolder i hired gear off came to collect it after a job was finished. I had moved it to the yard down the road from the site, i couln't get through to his phone or contact him for about 6 week so i couldn't tell him i had moved it. Well he turned up unannounced one evening with his truck and his stuff is nowhere to be seen, Well what does the eejit do? He goes off into the pub later and goes around telling everyone that i was after selling off his scaffolding for next to nothing while he was "on holiday" (i had passed him on the road several times during his "holidays). Could have seriously damaged my reputation and business prospects. Prick. I never dealt with him after that. And guess what? he still hasn't picked it up - its still rusting and rotting in the yard a year later.

Overheal

MitchKoobski wrote: »

I'd get the guards involved straight away. The mad cow needs to be stopped before she makes things any worse for him.

Master and commander wrote: »

he told the guards but he said they told him that there's nothing they can do and said he'd have to go to a solicitor. Typical gardai.

tinkerbell wrote: »

He should ask to speak to a garda with higher authority then. They need to sort this out. Rumours like that are incredibly damaging and his whole life could be ruined.

As stated, there's a difference between a Civil offense and a Criminal offense. This scenario is the sort of thing that is not covered in police jurisdiction. There's no substitute here but to go to a solicitor or try to file your own charges.

LegacyUser

Master and commander wrote: »

he told the guards but he said they told him that there's nothing they can do and said he'd have to go to a solicitor. Typical gardai.

Gardai are not lawyers. This is not a criminal matter.

He should make a list of every person's name who has mentioned it to him, and then, using that list, sue all of them for defamation of his character, based on no evidence. It's a civil matter, so not the police but civil courts.

CrazyRabbit

el tonto wrote: »

Defamation would be a civil rather than a criminal matter. He'd have to sue her. The guards can't prosecute her for defamation.

Quite true. However, if this women continues to spread lies & cause hassle, then it become harassment, which is a criminal matter.

There's no doubt that saying that someone is a convicted criminal - irrespective of the nature of the crime - is defamation. The fact that the defamation is said rather than written is irrelevant. As long as there are witnesses who will corroborate that the woman said these things, then a solicitor's letter should be enough to shut her up. Bear in mind, however, that there may be very little point in winning a case against a person like this. It'll cost a fortune and you'll never get damages. But at least if you win the case you have a piece of paper from the Court that'll counteract any future defamation by the same person.

Sharrow

Sharrow wrote: »

The thing is people can be put on it for very offences.
I now someone who was blitz drunk on his 21st and mooned a mate, unfortunatlly there was a garda across the road and he was done for indecent exposure and ended up on the sex offenders register.

WADR, I find that extraordinarily difficult to believe, unless the person was convicted on indictment of a more serious offence.