By Ashley Young And Victoria Mckeown-
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council have been forced to pay £50,000 in legal costs to Jules Saunders, a retired solicitor who runs the Sandwell Skidder website.
The court action against Saunders and the Skidder was brought by Lisa McNally, (pictured)also known as “Dr” Lisa McNally.
Dr McNally- Sandwell council’s director of public health-brought her dramatic case of Harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in which she called for an emergency injunction with a penal notice that could have seen Saunders behind bars if he had gone within 50 metres of the council official – who the blogger says he has never even met.
The Harassment Act 1997 defines harassment as the pursuit of any course of action that causes alarm and distress, and which a reasonable person would conclude causes alarm or distress. It must take place at least twice.
The problem with McNally’s claim was the fact the person against whom she made her claim, was functioning in a journalistic capacity, generally protected by the rules of freedom of expression. This freedom allows him to publish factual information about Dr Mcnally and comment on those facts according to his opinion, provided those articles were not targeted and designed to cause her distress.
Sanders, a former solicitor, would have have known how to frame his words to have maximum effect. in a way that could have indeed cause Ms Mcnally anxiety, but also understood the law around freedom of expression. In terms of harassment, the law can sometimes be quite grey.
The question for the presiding judge in this case was whether the actions of Saunders in publishing critical articles against McNally, would reasonably alarm or distress a reasonable person. That would include weather the claims were true.
The judge rejected the claim from McNally’s claim that Saunders, the man she has never met, posed a physical threat to her.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Chamberlain said that Saunders “says that the blog is ‘directed at exposing corruption, cronyism and incompetence’ at the council”, and that he seeks to emulate Private Eye. “Whether he succeeds in that aim,” the judge said, “is another matter.”
Claims
McNally complained about five posts published on the Skidder which criticized her decision to post a video about her own struggle with poor mental health. Saunders also questioned her use of the title “Dr”. Sandwell’s director of public health because she is not medically qualified. She is a psychologist by training.
Knight was also criticized for crediting herself with the title of “Dr”, because she had no medical qualifications. However, she had a doctorate in Education, which entitled her to her professional title of Dr.
The issue raised by the blogger in his articles was designed to discredit the authority of Ms Mcnally’s views.
In his submission to court, Saunders explained his reasons for publicly reporting on McNally’s use of the title “Dr”: “The General Medical Council (GMC) say quite clearly to me that even someone with a medicine-related PhD must not hold themselves out as being a practising medical practitioner if s/he is unregistered”.
McNally “passively allows people to form their own conclusion – and most people are seemingly coming to the wrong one”, Saunders wrote.
“Why might this be relevant?” the blogger asked.
He continued: “Well, our Lisa McNally has frequently put up on social media articles from the likes of The Guardian knocking the government response to Covid. Without wishing to denigrate the excellent and important work of chartered psychologists, she is hardly in the same league as the likes of Professors Whitty and Vallance and it is important at this critical time that the public do not get the impression that she is a high-level medical expert.
The public need to understand the limits of her medical knowledge and that she is specifically not a medical doctor.”
The reference from the blogger to the General Medical Council insistence that people must not hold themselves out as being a medical practitioner if they are registered, was not d applicable to this case, as Ms McNally had only used her correct title, and not held out to be a medical practitioner. A person with a doctorate is entitled to be addressed with their correct title.
The coverage in the Skidder originated from a video which McNally had made about her own mental health issues in May 2020, and which remained published on Sandwell council’s own Facebook page more than a year later, even as McNally’s case went to court.
Anxiety
In her evidence, McNally claimed the coverage in the Skidder caused her “crippling” anxiety and made her worry about her ability to do her job. Her QC claimed that Saunders, as “an unregulated lone blogger”, is not entitled to be treated as a journalist.
However, in his judgement, Mr Justice Chamberlain emphasized Sander’s legal rights to report on matters of genuine public interest involving often highly paid public servants working at the council.
Given the Skidder’s “frequently puerile tone and style, a casual reader… might be surprised to discover that they are the work of a semi-retired former solicitor”, the judge noted.
However “none of these features disentitles them to the protections afforded by the law to journalistic expression”.
Adverse
The judge said that McNally herself had chosen to place the information about her mental health issues in the public domain. “Someone who decides to make a public disclosure of this kind must expect that, while many people are likely to comment favourably, some may choose to make comments that are adverse.”
Granting summary judgement to the blogger, the judge ruled that the public interest in McNally being able to continue in her role was outweighed by Saunders’ Article 10 right to free expression.
Sanders is celebrating his victory, while Sandram Metropolitan Council picks up the costs estimated at between £80k to £100k .
The skippers blog who have so far benefited from the case says McNally earns earns between £105 and £110k.