£10,000 LIBEL ACTION.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 22 March 1938, Page 2

£IO,OOO LIBEL ACTION.

AGAINST AUCKLAND PAPERS. (By Telegraph —Press Association). AUCKLAND, Last Night. Two related actions in which a total sura of £IO,OOO as damages for alleged libel was claimed from the proprietors of the New Zealand Herald and the Auckland Star by James William Taylor, of Auckland, insurance adjuster, were commenced together in the Supreme Court before Mr. Justice Fair and a jury. Mr. Hall Skelton appeared for plaintiff, Mr. A. H. Johnstone, K.C., and 'Mr. Towle for New Zealand Newspapers, Ltd., proprietors of the Auckland Star, and Mr. Richmond for Wilson and Horton, Ltd., proprietors of the New Zealand Herald.

The subject matter of the actions is contained in reports published in the two newspapers of a civil action, John*ton v. Davis, heard in the Supreme Court on November 1 and 5 last before Mr, Justice Callau and a-jury. Plaintiff, Taylor, was referred to in the evidence during the hearing of this action, -which was for .damages' for injury. in a motor-car accident.. In each case separate sums of. £SOOO and £SOOO respectively are claimed in damages from each defendant in respect of allegedly defamatory . passages in the reports. The defence was a denial that the words complained of were defamatory. It tvas pleaded further that they were part of a fair and accurate report published bona fide for the information of the public and without malice towards plaintiff. The hearing is proceeding.