McCanns -v- Bennett THE CLOSING SUMMARIES

AP closing address

She  provided a chronology of the breaches, and Carter Ruck letters to Bennett, and Bennett's letters to Carter Ruck. 

She then briefly outlined correspondence around 2nd October 2009. In the exchange of letters, Bennett said that he would give appropriate undertakings and there would be no need to involve the high court, and that he would guarantee compliance.

Carter Ruck  decided that Bennett couldn't be trusted. "He agrees to take material down, and then puts in back up again a few weeks later. He publishes correspondence and emails".

Judge pointed out that it is essential for the administration of justice that the parties can be trusted not to repeat the actions complained of. There is no possible valid argument of mitigating circumstances. 

She then, speaking slowly and clearly, said that on the instructions and with the agreement of their clients,  Imprisonment is only one sanction available to the court and is very much a last and final resort. They have finally been forced to come to court to end persistent breaches. Since October 2009 they have exhausted every avenue, and committal application is all that is left. The McCanns only desire is to bring it to a close, and not too punish Bennett. 

Carter Ruck recognise that this may trigger an application to lift the undertaking, and trigger a libel action against Bennett.



Bennett Closing speech.

He mentioned a number of cases, including Warren v Random House. 

Bennett said that when he signed the undertaking in 2009, he was not aware of unforeseen consequences. He thought that when he signed the undertaking Amarals book was banned, as ban was subsequently overturned, he thought it allowed him to post material based on that book. 
The Judge pointed out rather tersely that it is imperative that an order of the court MUST be obeyed while it is in force. And that until it is lifted it must applied How can a court function if every action must be re litigated)

Bennett  then continued with notes on court procedure as they apply to contempt of court. He reminded the Judge that cases must be dealt with swiftly, as they are grave and urgent issues. As it has taken so long to reach this point, it cannot be considered very urgent. the Judge pointed out that this was because most cases involve threat of custodial sentence, and also applied to criminal law.

Bennett then went to say that Gerry McCann, giving evidence at the Leveson Enquiry, said that he was a firm believer in free speech. And all he (Bennett) was doing was exercising his right to free speech. He assumed that in the light of Gerry's evidence, the McCanns would raise no objection to his activities

Finally, he directed the Judge to the judgement of Mr Justice Eadey, where he ruled that chat postings were more akin to slander than libel, and could be liked to a chat in the pub rather than real defamation.

The Judge duly noted these.