Kezia Dugdale has spoken of her “huge relief” after an independence blogger lost a £25,000 defamation case against her.
The former Scottish Labour leader was the subject of a legal action by Stuart Campbell, who runs the website Wings Over Scotland, after she accused
him of writing “homophobic tweets”.
After a three-day hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Sheriff Nigel Ross has now issued a written judgment ruling Ms Dugdale, who is the MSP for Lothian, will not have to pay damages.
He found that although she was incorrect to imply Mr Campbell was a homophobe in her Daily Record column, the article was covered by the defence of fair comment.
In a statement, Ms Dugdale said: “I am delighted to have won this case and hugely relieved after two long years of it hanging over me.”
The MSP hailed the decision as “an important judgment for the right to free speech and a healthy press”, and thanked the Daily Record for its legal support.
She said: “This ruling clearly demonstrates that every citizen is entitled to make comments as long as they are fair and reflect honestly held views.”
Speaking to the media later, she said the costs involved in the case were “astronomical”, including £93,000 on preliminary arguments.
Sheriff Ross said both legal teams should “attempt to agree expenses” – or arrange a further hearing if they cannot.
The row centred on a tweet Mr Campbell, who lives in Bath in Somerset, sent in March 2017.
The 51-year-old wrote that the Scottish Secretary David Mundell’s son, the Tory MSP Oliver Mundell, was “the sort of public speaker that makes you wish his dad had embraced his homosexuality sooner”.
David Mundell came out as gay in 2016 and has described it as “one of the most difficult things” he has ever done.
Writing in her Daily Record column a few days later, Ms Dugdale said she was “shocked and appalled to see a pro-independence blogger’s homophobic tweets”, and accused Wings Over Scotland of spouting “hatred and homophobia towards others”. She later raised the issue in Holyrood.
Mr Campbell denied he is homophobic and insisted her comments were defamatory.
He previously told the court he was “absolutely horrified” to be accused of making homophobic remarks, and had consistently supported gay rights.
He called the claims “self-evidently ludicrous” and argued anyone who interpreted his remark in such a way was either dishonest or stupid.
In his ruling, Sheriff Ross said: “Despite incorrectly implying that Mr Campbell is homophobic, [Ms Dugdale’s] article is protected under the principle of fair comment. She is not liable to pay damages to Mr Campbell.”
Despite finding Mr Campbell does not hold homophobic beliefs or feelings, he ruled that the Ms Dugdale’s article “contained the necessary elements for a defence of fair comment”.
- READ MORE: Richard Leonard and Kezia Dugdale at war over Brexit 'censorship' at Scottish Labour conference
He added: “It was based on true facts; the statements complained about were honest; it concerned a matter of public interest, and the comments were fair. Her comments were fair, even though incorrect.”
He said Mr Campbell had suffered “no quantifiable financial or other loss as a result of the article”, and described him as someone who had “chosen insult and condemnation as his style”, adding: “He has received these in return.”
He added: “Had I been awarding damages, those damages would have been assessed at £100.”
Yesterday, Mr Campbell said he looked forward to receiving an apology given Sheriff Ross had “unequivocally, unambiguously and repeatedly stated that her article and comments were untrue and defamatory”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel