Bennett gave an undertaking to the High Court to desist. He subsequently ignored the undertaking
The Court would not seek to punish Bennett, only to take steps to ensure with the undertaking. In his decision, Tugendhut seems to have done just that.
He still does not understand that! This is his reaction:
I start by thanking once again the forum-owner who originally set up ‘The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann’, largely to help me, and who has remained loyal and helpful throughout all the ups and downs of the last four years.
Today is exactly six years since the parents of Madeleine McCann reported her missing.
For the past 5½ years I have been intensely interested in this case and have made many public statements on it. The legal actions against me have however forced me to recognise that this activity must cease.
Here is a brief history of more recent events concerning the legal actions against me by the McCanns and Edward Smethurst:
Recent Events
On 5 & 6 February Mr Justice Tugendhat heard evidence in relation to an application by the McCanns to commit me to prison, restricted to the very narrow issue of: ‘Has Mr Bennett broken any of his undertakings?’.
No other matters whatsoever could be taken into consideration during this trial. Not even the question of whether all the undertakings were reasonable ones to have given in the first place.
Shortly afterwards, Carter-Ruck told me that their total costs in the matter had now risen to well over £300,000, including fees for barristers Adrienne Page Q.C. and Jacob Dean of £69,270 (inc. VAT), and their own fees which then totalled £233,299.20 (inc. VAT but excluding witness expenses and various Court fees and other ‘disbursements’, which amounted to several thousand pounds on top of that).
On 18 February, on my own initiative, I told Carter-Ruck that I would be prepared to consider an overall settlement in which I abandoned any further legal action to vary or discharge three of my undertakings, in exchange for a very substantial reduction in the McCanns’ costs.
The McCanns responded swiftly by saying they were ‘interested’ in such a proposed settlement, but would wait for Mr Justice Tugendhat’s formal decision on 21 February.
On 21 February Mr Justice Tugendhat found that in 13 instances (and in those 13 instances only) I had breached one or more of my undertakings.
In passing, I should point out for the record that:
(1) The McCanns did not seek at the trial to prove that the publication of ‘The Madeleine McCann Case Files Volume 1’ was a breach of any of my undertakings. They withdrew that from an earlier list of 26 alleged breaches which they had set out to the Court back in March 2012
(2) Similarly, the McCanns also withdrew from that list of 26 alleged breaches the allegation that my public reading on a YouTube video of the ‘48 questions’ put by the Portuguese Police to Dr Kate McCann was a breach of any of my undertakings.
Thus Mr Justice Tugendhat made no ruling as to whether the book: ‘The Madeleine McCann Case Files Volume 1’, or the reading of the 48 questions, were breaches of any of my undertakings.
I should also point out in fairness that the McCanns’ position is that they only pursued 13 alleged breaches, for reasons of convenience and case management, and they maintain that all the other 140 alleged breaches were also breaches of my undertakings.
On 21 February Mr Justice Tugendhat sentenced me to a suspended 3-month jail sentence and ordered the court costs to be assessed if not agreed.
Following further correspondence, on 6 March Carter-Ruck wrote to me, without prejudice, saying that the McCanns would be prepared limit their claim against me to £75,000. That sum was to be paid by an initial lump-sum of £7,500 plus paying the remaining £67,500 over the next 37½ years at the rate of £150 a month.
This would have meant paying the court costs until I was 103 years old. In addition, they would take a charging order on the marital home, meaning that if I died before 103, they would be entitled to claim the balance owing, plus interest, from my estate.
On 13 March I lodged an appeal to the Court of Appeal against Mr Justice Tugendhat’s judgment. The normal fee on lodging such an appeal is £465, but I was exempted from paying the fee on grounds of low income. I have since agreed to withdraw that appeal as part of an overall settlement.
At this time, I also instructed Mr Robin Tilbrook of Tilbrooks Solicitors to conduct negotiations with the McCanns, as a result of which a new offer was put to me and I accepted.
The Settlement Oder above was approved by Mr Justice Tugendhat on 17 April, was sealed by the High Court on 18 April, and sent to me a few days ago.
I have now paid the amounts of £12,500 costs due to the McCanns and £7,500 costs to Edward Smethurst. In each case, by the way, these are payments direct into the bank accounts of Carter-Ruck. I have in addition instructed my bank to pay Carter-Ruck £125.00 per calendar month, starting on 25 May, and until 25 April 2023.
Observations
Above all else, these proceedings were conducted in a legal framework where those with sufficient funds are able to sue or threaten to sue for libel, and those with insufficient funds must choose whether to give in, or conduct their own defence - and if appropriate finance any counter-claims, as I elected to do by defending the contempt proceedings in person and applying to vary three undertakings.
I have agreed to withdraw my appeal to the Court of Appeal against Mr Tugendhat’s judgment. And this means that I am legally bound to accept its verdicts.
I will however make one brief comment. He implied in Paragraph 148 of his judgment that there was some element of choice in my deciding to represent myself. I can assure him that there was not. There was no way I could have sustained the cost of legal representation to oppose the fire-power of Carter-Ruck, their barristers, and, of course, whoever is funding them.
Legal Aid is simply not available to defendants in libel proceedings, despite rulings by the European Court of Human Rights stipulating that defendants who cannot afford the high costs of defending themselves in defamation cases should be entitled to state aid.
All High Court judges who rule on libel cases are aware of this situation.
The practicalities
Mr Justice Tugendhat made a number of comments in his judgment, none of which I can now appeal. For example, he said that my publications were ‘a flagrant breach’ of my undertakings.
However, he also said that my apologies both to the High Court and to the McCanns before him on 21 February were sincere. And so they are.
I did not intend to defy the High Court. I thought that I would have had valid defences for my publications, but I did not. I cannot now continue with any legal action in relation to my publications.
In his judgment (Paragraph 108), Mr Justice Tugendhat said that even for me to repeat facts in the case could be deemed libellous and a breach of my undertakings. He said in relation to the contents of a certain leaflet: “A list of factual statements can carry an inferential meaning additional to the literal meaning of each fact…”
In other words, he said: Facts can be libellous.
That statement by Mr Justice Tugendhat is one reason why I really cannot continue to make any more public statements about Madeleine’s reported disappearance. The impact of my actions on members of my family is another. Besides that, the process of defending yourself and pursuing legal claims on your own is both stressful and mentally exhausting. The possibility of being sent to prison, being made a bankrupt and losing my home were all factors which have weighed heavily on my mind. It is time for me to cease making any more statements on the case - not even repeating facts.
Very many people have helped and supported me, in all kinds of ways, great or small, particularly during the legal proceedings. I am truly grateful to each and every one of you who have helped me one way or another during this period.
Tony Bennett, 3 May 2013
