A retired police Superintendent was recently convicted of several cases of child abuse. When the abuse was reported in the press many years ago the abuser sued for libel and was awarded £370 000 damages.
Will he now have to pay it back?
An award of damages for libel does not injure just the person who has to pay; it also injures others who are restrained from discussing the matter.
Even a threat to sue for libel can be damaging. Rupert Murdoch prevented free discussion of the parlous state of his companies just by threatening to sue for libel. After he disappeared and was assumed dead it was discovered he had stolen about £400 000 000 from a pension fund.
Perhaps anyone suing, or threatening to sue, for libel could be required to take out an insurance policy to compensate any person suffering loss as a result of the suppression of free discussion.
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I seem to recall that in the past Private Eye has reclaimed damages wrongly awarded (Sonia Sutcliffe?). In the Anglesea case, it has chosen not to do so.
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