Defamation of character

theperson2014

Hi. In a bit of a detressing state. I received a phone call last week from an individual threatening to send me a solicitor's letter and sue me for defamation of character. He also stated he had obtained an unflattering photo of myself half naked and insinuated he would use it against me which came as a shock. The call came two days after I passed a remark to a neighbour of his that "he had a rather unsavory past". I was referring to the fact that he had previous criminal convictions but went on to say that I thought he was "an ok guy". The person I made the remark to repeated it back to him.

I don't see how I defamed him to be honest. I didn't make any untrue comment. I know the man in question a number of years as he is in a relationship with a close enough relation of mine. Does he really have grounds to sue me?

OU812

Defamation of character occurs when someone makes a false statement about you that causes you some type of harm. The statement must be published (meaning some third party must have heard it), false, and it must result in harm, usually to the reputation.

Is what you said false? If so, then you defamed them, if what you said is true, then you didn't and its up to him to prove you did.

Not sure what the photo has to do with anything.

* I'm not a lawyer

theperson2014

OU812 wrote: »

Defamation of character occurs when someone makes a false statement about you that causes you some type of harm. The statement must be published (meaning some third party must have heard it), false, and it must result in harm, usually to the reputation.

Is what you said false? If so, then you defamed them, if what you said is true, then you didn't and its up to him to prove you did.

Not sure what the photo has to do with anything.

* I'm not a lawyer

Thanks. No it wasn't false. Unless he deems the word "unsavory" to mean anything. However, I never made any untrue statement.

FreudianSlippers

You need a solicitor.

Youngblood.III

Looks like he's trying to blackmail you with a photo....this definitely is illegal.

Oryx

theperson2014 wrote: »

Thanks. No it wasn't false. Unless he deems the word "unsavory" to mean anything. However, I never made any untrue statement.

Actually the burden of proof is yours if he takes a case against you.

theperson2014

Oryx wrote: »

Actually the burden of proof is yours if he takes a case against you.

Therefore I would have to prove what I meant by having an unsavory past.

theperson2014

Youngblood.III wrote: »

Looks like he's trying to blackmail you with a photo....this definitely is illegal.

Which I thought as much.

ohnonotgmail

theperson2014 wrote: »

Therefore I would have to prove what I meant by having an unsavory past.

No you would have to prove that he did have an unsavoury past. Previous criminal convictions could possibly be called unsavoury depending on the nature of the convictions. To be honest he would have to be a fool to bring you to court. An expensive undertaking that would achieve nothing except draw attention to his criminal past.

FreudianSlippers

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

No you would have to prove that he did have an unsavoury past. Previous criminal convictions could possibly be called unsavoury depending on the nature of the convictions. To be honest he would have to be a fool to bring you to court. An expensive undertaking that would achieve nothing except draw attention to his criminal past.

There'd be multiple potential defences, the most likely of which would be honest opinion.

seamus

From the OP, blackmail doesn't really apply here because it doesn't appear like the other guy is trying to get anything out of it.

A threat only becomes blackmail if the person doing the threatening is making some kind of demand on the back of it.

My non-professional opinion is that you need do nothing unless you are contacted by a solicitor or unless this guy starts making demands or more serious threats. Just ignore his calls and carry on with your life.

haveringchick

Unless you think that someone is in danger, I long ago learned that "passing remarks" otherwise known as gossiping does nothing but get you into trouble
Remember this forever

goz83

When people feel the need to gossip and talk behind someones back, i say come what may. Venomous stuff really.

MDwyer

sorry i was just lurking and was curious when it says statement must be published does it count for word of mouth? like he could say x said it to y and a case be carried on this alone?

Victor

MDwyer wrote: »

sorry i was just lurking and was curious when it says statement must be published does it count for word of mouth?

In this context, a third party must have received the defamatory statement in some form - oral, written, video, audio, etc.

like he could say x said it to y and a case be carried on this alone?

Potentially yes.

However, the practicalities may be otherwise. For example, if I state on the six o'clock news that person X has convictions for paedophilia, when they don't, then that is a very serious matter and the loss of reputation and consequent damages could be extreme and it would be very easy to prove that I said it. If I only told one person, who had no connection to the victim of the defamation, it would be another matter. On the flip side, if that person is their boss, client, the town gossip or other 'important person', then telling one person could have implications.

MDwyer

Victor wrote: »

In this context, a third party must have received the defamatory statement in some form - oral, written, video, audio, etc.

Potentially yes.

However, the practicalities may be otherwise. For example, if I state on the six o'clock news that person X has convictions for paedophilia, when they don't, then that is a very serious matter and the loss of reputation and consequent damages could be extreme and it would be very easy to prove that I said it. If I only told one person, who had no connection to the victim of the defamation, it would be another matter. On the flip side, if that person is their boss, client, the town gossip or other 'important person', then telling one person could have implications.

very interesting. i was thinking how the proof would be made say if i said to person x victor robbed a bank years ago would the case be played out on word of mouth as evidence i wonder how those trials go given the he said she said

Peregrinus

MDwyer wrote: »

very interesting. i was thinking how the proof would be made say if i said to person x victor robbed a bank years ago would the case be played out on word of mouth as evidence i wonder how those trials go given the he said she said

If victor wanted to sue you for saying that to person X, it would be up to him to establish that you did say it to person X. The usual way to establish this would be to call person X as a witness, and have him testify "yep, MDwyer said to me that Victor had robbed a bank years ago". If person X isn't available - let's say he has died in the meantime - the Victor has a problem. If there was a witness to the conversation, then that witness can be called to give evidence to the effect that "I heard MDwyer tell person X that Victor had robbed a bank". Or, person X might have recorded the conversation in his diary. Or something. But, basically, it's up to Victor to lead evidence showing that you said something if he wants to sue you for saying it.

delahuntv

theperson2014 wrote: »

He also stated he had obtained an unflattering photo of myself half naked and insinuated he would use it against me which came as a shock. The call came two days after I passed a remark to a neighbour of his that "he had a rather unsavory past". I was referring to the fact that he had previous criminal convictions but went on to say that I thought he was "an ok guy".

The very fact that he has insinuated that he would use the photo proves to me he is an unsavory character.

case closed - forget about it.