Libel and Malicious Falsehood Claim Dismissed over Insufficient Evidence Linking Defendant to Defamatory Google Reviews

Samuels t/a Samuels & Co Solicitors v Henry [2024] EWHC 2898 (KB)

A “litigant may not sit on their hands”: Deputy Master Marzec rejected a belated request to stay proceedings and dismissed a libel and malicious falsehood claim, finding insufficient evidence to link the defendant to defamatory reviews posted on the claimant’s Google Business Profile. Lack of evidence and the failure to determine the author of the defamatory statements ultimately led to the dismissal of the claim.

The Claim

Jacqueline Samuels, a sole practitioner trading as Samuels & Co Solicitors, claimed her former client, Christopher John Henry, posted three malicious and defamatory reviews on her Google Business Profile using Gmail accounts named "Chris H", "John H" and "P.R.". The defendant denied authorship on oath and sought to have the claims struck out. The court was required to determine, as a preliminary issue, whether the defendant was responsible for publishing the material.

The Claimant’s Failure to Take Decisive Action

The claimant sought to link the defendant to the reviews on two primary bases: 

(a) the similarity of the names “Chris H” and “John H” to the defendant’s full name; and 

(b) the fact that none of her other clients had names that could…