Not such a good day for Justice Eady

Having previously highlighted some of the good libel rulings from Justice Eady (here and here), and how rarely his rulings get overturned on appeal, it seems only fair to point out that he’s just had a very different experience.

As London Lite report of the Richard Desmond vs Tom Bower libel case, which Justice Eady presided over:

Three senior [Appeal Court] judges unanimously overturned his decision to exclude the most crucial evidence in a libel trial and described him as “plainly wrong”. Lord Justice Hooper went further and on three occasions said that Mr Justice Eady’s decision risked “a miscarriage of justice”…

The judge had originally ruled inadmissible vital evidence by hedge fund boss Jafa Omid that he had been threatened by Mr Desmond and then libelled in the Sunday Express. Mr Bower’s QC Ronald Thwaites appealed and Lord Justices Rix and Wilson ruled that the evidence was relevant.

Mr Justice Eady then admitted most of the evidence – but excluded a tape-recorded phone call in which Mr Desmond told Mr Omid he would be “the worst f***ing enemy you will ever have.” … Lord Justice Hooper said: “I have no doubt that the judge was wrong to exclude evidence of the telephone call.”