Can anyone advise on slander please?

[FeelingHelpless2019]

There’s a really long back history to this and I do plan to see a solicitor when I can take a day off but does anyone know if we have any options with a nasty situation?
There’s a long back story but in a nutshell a local woman, well known for upsetting / arguing with others, took a grudge about four years ago and since then has not missed any opportunity to bad mouth me to others. Obviously this is my take on it all but believe me all completely unjustified and malicious, blatant lies. I had thought she had backed off but she’s just started up again. I have to admit that I have found this very difficult over the years, ending up on Omeprazole for stomach difficulties due to the stress and seeing a counsellor for tips on how to deal with her. I have tried to rise above it all, keep away, not gossip and thought that was working. But it isn’t.
The role I work in has possibly been affected by her, and would be if those I work with heard/ read what she is saying, so the effects are twofold. To date our children are unaware of her actions.
So, we would very much like this to just stop. We’ve been round to talk with her and her husband to try and get to the bottom of it but that just inflamed her anger and I still don’t know what caused this initially. She’s been described as someone that feeds off the drama to me by another victim, there’s quite a group in our children’s school and she has been troublesome in school too. People appear to be afraid of her and either keep away or keep her sweet. She isn’t liked, has a very unhappy relationship and I think is just lashing out because she’s miserable, the pattern keeps repeating itself. However, we have years ahead of children in the same schools and as I said I just want her to stop. Looking at slander we could go down that route, the dr advised it some years ago and we still have the notes made then. Would this be an advisable route? Money isn’t an issue so could easily go down the legal route.
I’d really appreciate some advice before speaking with our solicitor.
Thanks for reading!

Well I'm not a legal expert but neither is your doctor.

Slander is civil matter - no legal aid so you'll need deep pockets. I also think you will need to be able to prove significant financial loss, which from the OP hasn't happened.

See a solicitor by all means for proper advice, they might be prepared to issue a "cease and desist" letter basically telling her to back off and stop. But it's a fairly empty threat - cease and desist spreading rumours or... what?

I think in order to sue for slander (or indeed anything) you have to be able to demonstrate actual loss that's occurred due to her actions.
Your solicitor may be willing to send a letter but I agree with pp, it's an empty threat.

What kind of things is she saying about you?

Thanks for that, hadn’t heard of a cease or desist letter before, will look into it. I see your point about there being no consequences, but it may do the trick. Think I’m kidding myself there though!

Contact police for harrassment?

My reading suggests no actual loss needs to have occurred, not tangible, it can also apply to reputation so that’s interesting. And thanks, we have a police officer friend who knew of the situation initially so I’ll speak with them later.

Legal action for slander (defamatory comments which are not permanent, ie spoken and unrecorded) are extremely rare and expensive. Cases for libel, which is recorded or written defamation, are also expensive - it's a rich man's game. I'm a media lawyer and I'd advise a company to spend anything from £60-100k, maybe more depending on complexity, to successfully bring a claim.

Perhaps even more importantly, the limitation period is one year from the incident, so much of your evidence would be inadmissible, even if you were able to substantiate her behaviour.

I think you'd be well-advised to talk to the police about harassment instead.

Ouch. I was thinking a couple of thousand. Ok, yes, I have lots of evidence but much of it is older than twelve months. Thanks for the good advice, at least I know where to go next. Much appreciated!

Yup police for harassment sounds like a better bet.

At the very least, you can take comfort that lots of other people have suffered at the hands of this woman so will not believe the nasty things she is saying. You will have their sympathy not their condemnation.

You need to be 100% sure that people she has sagged you off to will be willing to cooperate with police.

More often than not people are unwilling to get involved so be prepared for people to backtrack.

Harassment is being threatening, abusive or insulting causing harassment, alarm or distress. Id say this fits the bill. Call the police.

Slagged

They are but thanks for the advice, I’m not the only one that has had enough, or, in fact the only one that ended up at the drs due to it.
Thanks everyone, so much clearer now.

You’re more likely to have success going through the police for anti social behaviour or harassment than slander. Also cheaper as others have said.

Civil cases are exceedingly expensive and of course you are on risk for the other sides costs if you lose.

I'm not a lawyer but a member of my family is currently involved in a libel case. Do not take what I'm going to say as gospel but roughly speaking:

Before you begin you have to issue a letter before action warning them of your intent to sue. If their response to that is unsatisfactory you need to file a claim form in the courts and I THINK though I'm not certain that slander / libel cases have to go to high court in London. Slander is harder to prove than libel - you'll need some very solid witnesses.

The filing fee alone can run into hundreds or even thousands of pounds depending on how much you are claiming. You then have a lot of too and froing, paperwork, evidence, questionaires from each side, pre trail hearings, bundles etc. etc. You can make offers to settle (you can even do this in the pre action letter) and negotiate over them and if you're lucky you'll settle before trial.

On top of that the civil procedure rules are very complex and apparently judges get quite stressed if you don't follow them properly although there is some slack for litigants in person.

In short it may cause more stress than its worth, will almost certainly take months if not years and unless you can do most of the work yourself or find someone willing to work pro bono you could come out of it tens of thousands of pounds down (even if you lose getting other side to pay your costs can be hard if they;ve got no money)

Your final consideration - is she WORTH suing. Does she have substantial money / assets you can claim from her - if not forget it unless all you're after is a moral victory and a token payment

Wish I could deliver better news

Thank you cottonwoolbrain, that’s also very helpful and I appreciate the time you’ve taken to reply. I think I had hoped we could get a solicitor, throw a bit of money at it and sort out the problem, I was obviously very naive. You live and learn.
I think police involvement and harassment is the way to go, my husband’s already made an appointment with our solicitor for next week so we’ll double check with him and then move forward. Apparently you make an appointment with the police for this kind of thing, who knew? I don’t think I’ve ever stepped foot in a police station before.
Thanks again everyone, your help has been invaluable and made this difficult task easier to begin.

Best of luck with it OP. Hope the police can get it sorted for you.

It’s very very difficult to sue for slander. Is it purely slander (verbal statements) or has there been libel (publications e.g. letters, emails etc)? Then there is the question of what she has been saying about you. If she has been claiming that you are guilty of a serious criminal offence then that is actionable per se. But geberally you have to prove serious harm and that it is a real and substantial tort in order to make a successful claim.

Sorry, forgot to mention special damage requirement

Just to be clear if this has been going on for longer than year you may be out of time depending on whether the defamatory statements are separate events of libel/slander or not.

Not in Berkshire are you @FeelingHelpless2019 ? Sounds like a woman at our school that has done this to lots of us. She was also stalking and threatening. Funnily enough she accused us of ruining er career and bullying her We got the police involved after she pulled her crap one too many times in front of our children (NEVER gets, though!) and she backed off. Has done similar to many people since. People I didn't know were coming up to me in the supermarket telling me their 'story' with her!
Good luck it's a horrible situation to find yourself in.

*NEVER hers, sorry, autocorrect!

No kindness, not Berkshire, bloody awful that she isn’t the only one though. What possesses people I just don’t know. But I’m glad to hear you had a more positive outcome. Her poor partner and kids too, how anyone can think this is a way to live is beyond me, at least I can get away from her!

Ah, mine didn't have a partner-he moved abroad
Things that helped:
Go in to the school. Calmly explain what has happened. They will be sympathetic.
Try to always be surrounded by people-it will make you feel safer and show her that you have a good circle.
Kill it with kindness-refuse to be drawn into gossip about this person. Maintain the upper hand. You don't need to say a thing, people already know. And if they don't know already they soon will because these people always move on to a new drama with a new victim.
I'm so sorry I know how scary it is, it consumes all your thoughts.

Thanks Kindness, your experience and thoughts sound very similar. There must be a name for her behaviour. And you know what, I know for a fact she’s totally miserable, doesn’t have good friends that last, hates her partner - and it’s all her own doing, but she can’t seem to stop herself. All she wants is what those she I’ll treats have, I think I’ve answered my own question there.

EXACTLY THAT! She will pick her worst traits and accuse you of displaying them. It's not you, it's her.