Suing neighbour for character defamation

[CandiStore]

A neighbour a couple of doors away got a dog several months ago which barked continuously when she left it out in the garden for long periods.

One Sunday when I was woken early yet again I went out and spoke to her, she was extremely confrontational and I stood firm, but didn't swear like her. She accused me of shouting out the window a few days previously to 'shut that f'kng dog up' but that I stated that had not been me (so obviously other people have been bothered and reacted).

I left it for a few weeks but struggled with early waking from the barking and on the days I worked from home my Teams meetings were disturbed.

I wrote a polite and convivial letter acknowledging that we hadn't got off to the best start when we spoke and apologising for that and asking her to tackle the barking as best she could, offering suggestions and telling her I was an animal lover too.

She has now written back, highly defensive, (using very poor spelling and grammar) saying she is fully aware that I have contacted the Council and failed to provide evidence of alleged noise nuisance - this was not me so how can she assume this? She has accused me of 'howling abuse' stating this shows my true personality, again untrue.

She accuses me of not being a pet lover. Basically she has made me look and sound really bad.

In her letter she has told me that after 'taking legal advice' she has distributed my letter and her letter in response to all the houses in the street.

I am planning to sue her for defamation of character because she has distributed a letter written to her only, made several attacks on my character and falsely accused me of being the person who contacted the Council (surely that would be confidential anyway?). This has obviously been upsetting and will negatively affect my reputation in the neighbourhood. My name and address are clearly marked on my letter to her so I will be easily identified. She had no right to do that without prior consultation.

Has anyone had similar experiences and can offer advice - I attempted to find a solution to this problem via an amicable and factual letter. AIBU to sue?

Sue not she.sorry

You'd have to prove that you have lost out on something because of the defamation of character. Otherwise how will you calculate what you are suing her for?

By definition, defamation is harm to reputation. If you can prove that, as an individual, you don't have to prove additional losses - the loss you have suffered is the loss of your good name. Only institutions need to prove additional losses to prove defamation.

Solicitor here. This is all nonsense, forget it.

Oh god, it's the Mumsnet imaginary GDPR rules again priceless.best post on thread

I’m imagining offended people getting all aerated drawing upon their legal knowledge gleaned from Judge Rinder

I can totally see why you are annoyed and concerned at what the neighbours think. Her letter implies you’ve been shouting obscenities at her which is not the impression most decent people would want their neighbours to have of them.

But the other posters are right. You will not get the outcome you want from legal action. Someone has obviously already reported her to the council so I would let that run it’s course.

@Minimumstandard

She was entirely wrong to distribute a letter with your address and personal contact information on it. Not sure whether that infringes privacy/data protection laws but that was unacceptable of her.

This is pure nonsense. She has not infringed any data protection or privacy laws.

⬆️ And BOOM, that is correct

@Angelina82

Are you sure it’s the dog barking and not you and you’re neighbour?

Eh?

A friend of mine used to work as a legal secretary (this was donkey's years ago) - she said they had filing cabinets full of this sort of case. They cost the client a great deal and never went anywhere.

Also, I don't know whether you own your house, but if you do and you get into this sort of a legal dispute, you could make your house unsaleable in the future.

Just rise above it, and (given that your letter was politely, and hers was a ranty, mispelled mess) watch her make a complete prat of herself with everyone in the street.

Forget suing for defamation, that’s a dead end.

This ^

It will cost a fortune and even if you won you may be awarded only a token amount

I think you will actually have a lot of support from what you have said - so she has done you a favour. She may find that now people know she has been reported to the council, they will follow suit and report her too

Agree - she may have shot herself in the foot here.

TBH, it's that poor dog I feel sorry for.

@SentientAndCognisant

⬆️ And BOOM, that is correct

😁 thank god for that or I’d have to resign from my job 🤣🤣🤣🤣

So what I got from all this, is, the dog is the problem. Or the cause of the problem. It all started with an unsupervised dog. Right?
I have had that neighbour that went to work leaving 2 dogs outside all day. It was awful.

Perhaps OP could begin again but from a noise control Council point of view?

This all sounds very Jeremy Kyle.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow

You'd have to prove that you have lost out on something because of the defamation of character. Otherwise how will you calculate what you are suing her for?

By definition, defamation is harm to reputation. If you can prove that, as an individual, you don't have to prove additional losses - the loss you have suffered is the loss of your good name. Only institutions need to prove additional losses to prove defamation.

Sorry if it wasn't clear but that was my point when I said "lost something" - as in reputation, o money, or a job etc

Don't do ANYTHING. She has played right into your hands! If her dog is bothering you then it is bothering others, and now they all know that someone else feels the same (including the people who shouted out of their windows and the person who actually did complain to the council). More complaints will follow, or perhaps you can even coordinate a joint letter from the whole street? I reckon sympathetic people will make themselves known to you now!

MissLucyEyelesbarrow and Noneformethanks just getting straight to the factual point.

Sorry if it wasn't clear but that was my point when I said "lost something" - as in reputation, o money, or a job etc

Ah, got you - yes, if the OP could prove reputational harm, she could in theory prove defamation. But defamation actions are more complicated than that in practice, as well as being a really expensive & stressful way to lose money.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow

Sorry if it wasn't clear but that was my point when I said "lost something" - as in reputation, o money, or a job etc

Ah, got you - yes, if the OP could prove reputational harm, she could in theory prove defamation. But defamation actions are more complicated than that in practice, as well as being a really expensive & stressful way to lose money.

This.

You are unlikely to have a case.

There’s no GDPR or privacy case - GDPR doesn’t apply when acting in a purely personal or household capacity.

Also, if I could get one thing through to people it’s that GDPR doesn’t mean you have to give consent to everything that involves your personal data. You don’t. There are six legal bases for processing, of which consent is only one.

Sorry but you both sound batshit.

and will negatively affect my reputation in the neighbourhood

😂

Also, do you have any idea of how much a defamation case will cost?

Your solicitor will love you though 😁

Ok so if your letter is all polite sweetness and hers is unintelligible garbage, let her go ahead.

Your neighbour, obviously, is barking.

It will cost you tens of thousands of pounds. What will you actually gain from it?

Have you ever heard of the "Steisand effect"? Suing your neighbour for defamation could make you look just as nuts as her and could make your neighbours be wary of you. Would suggest noise cancelling headphones as a cheaper and less stressful alternative.