It brings you hatred ridicule and contempt
Posted in General on 19. Oct, 2010
It brings you hatred, ridicule and contempt.”Before the settlement, believed to be the first of its kind, Mr Murray had rejected “insulting” cash offers of £400 and later £1,000 and a written apology from Mr Spencer. He had been seeking damages of up to £5,000.Mr Murray, of Lincolnshire, said he was disappointed with yesterday’s award. Mr Spencer was also ordered to pay £150 in costs.Mr Spencer, himself a teacher at a school in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, admitted that the comments he posted were libellous but said the damages should be nominal.Addressing Mr Murray, Mr Spencer said: “It was a virtual conversation between ex-pupils. With hindsight it was a stupid remark.”I didn’t join Friends Reunited to assassinate your character.”He said the site had carried the words only for a day and that they would have been seen by only a few people.District Judge Maw said Mr Murray had a right to feel aggrieved. “He has lost his professional character, which cannot be given back.”Friends Reunited has millions of registered users. It was set up by a husband and wife team, Steve and Julie Pankhurst, at their home in Barnet, north London..
A High Court judge has ordered a magistrates’ court to reconsider a decision banning the media from identifying two teenage gang leaders accused of harassing the residents of a town. They were accused of assault, nuisance, various acts of trespass, criminal damage, threatening behaviour and intimidation. But District Judge Terence English, who made the orders at Woking magistrates’ court, said the teenagers, who were accused of leading a 40-strong gang, should have their anonymity protected.He said that, although it was generally right in such cases to name names to help enforce the anti-social behaviour orders, he had noticed “a change of attitude” on the part of the brothers and publicity should not be permitted as he wanted to give the orders a chance to work. He also took into account the effect publicity could have on other family members.Yesterday Mr Justice Elias, sitting at the High Court in London, ruled that District Judge English was wrong in this case to have regard to the impact on other family members. He added that the evidence of a “change in attitude” by the two was “so slim” that he wondered whether it was a conclusion which could properly be reached.
He sent the case back to the magistrates’ court for reconsideration.In a second similar case, the judge ordered a court in St Albans to reconsider its decision to allow the media to name an 11-year-old boy accused of pushing dog excrement into a baby’s face.. Britain’s most wanted Yardie gangster and three gang members were given long jail terms yesterday in what police said was an important victory against London’s crack-cocaine underworld. But yesterday, after an 11-week trial, he was jailed for 12 years by an Old Bailey judge with another gang leader, Anthony Bourne, 21.Detective Inspector Peter Lansdown from Scotland Yard’s Operation Trident inquiry into so-called black-on-black murders said Lambie had been top of its most wanted list.Lambie was 14 when he was accused of hacking to death PC Blakelock during the Broadwater Farm riot in north London in 1985. Charges against him and two other juveniles were dropped during the 1987 trial.Judge Stephens told the gang members yesterday: “The sentences I pass must reflect the public’s outrage for the use of guns and violence by men who believe themselves above the law. Crimes are too prevalent and blight the lives of the whole community.”Lambie, of Streatham, south London, and Bourne, of Tottenham, were each jailed for 12 years for kidnap and blackmail. Gang member Warren Leader, 21, of Wood Green, was jailed for 11 years and Francis Osei, 20, of Tottenham, was jailed for nine years. Bourne was cleared of attempted murder.The jury was told the gangsters believed that their victims, Gregory Smith, 22, and Twaine Morris, 24, were involved in the drug trade and had access to large amounts of cash.