Arlene Foster suing Dr Christian

[MissyB1]

Apparently he tweeted that she was having an affair (without any proof), and the way he put it was a spiteful little jibe about her being a “sanctity of marriage preaching woman” adding “it always comes back to bite them on the arse”
Now I understand he might have an issue with her as I think she was against same sex marriage. But this man always strikes me as an arrogant twat and a nasty piece of work.

I tried to post the link but I’m such a technophobe! it’s on BBC news website

Good! I don’t like him, he has some very very dubious views.

@nauticant

After having had an excellent morning, this makes my day get even better. The arrogant arsehole could have resolved this at very little effort and very little cost simply by showing some humility.

Now off to twitter to see whether it'll be shocked silence or outrage that a woman successfully stood up to a misgynist.

Do report back nauticant!

It can't be that difficult not to libel someone, surely? Let alone an "outrageously bad libel"!

He invited a legal kicking by showing utter contempt to his victim, the proceedings, and then the court.

There's almost no support for him on twitter. (At the moment, the bottom-feeders will probably stir it up later on.) Well, there is this:

twitter.com/witney1971/status/1397876441132449797

What an idiot. That's A LOT of money. Such a fool.

@MrsBunHat

I may not agree with her politics but I do admire her strength and in this case I support her as a woman.

So often cases like this go nowhere or the man gets let off with "boys will be boys, he didn't mean it" type shite. I'm just so happy to see a man getting his comeuppance for being a misogynist arse, for once. And I admire her for taking him to court.

100% agree

I don’t agree with her on probably every political point but I admire her strength & wish she was still first minister as she’s miles better than any of the male unionist politicians

As a Remain voting Republican atheist liberal, I disagree with Arlene Foster on just about everything. I’m delighted that she won this case, though.

Jessen has behaved appallingly, and it appears from his ridiculous ‘defence’ that he has either been given very poor legal advice, or has been given good legal advice and has been too arrogant to accept it.

£125k is a lot of money in a libel case. Foster sued Jessen in the NI courts, not the English courts. What he may not have understood is that Foster is herself a barrister, the NI legal profession is a very small world in which everyone knows everyone else, and he libelled one of their own. Silly boy.

Ha, this cheered me right up. I'm glad he lost.

I never realised a tweet of a single 3-letter word could be so funny:

twitter.com/Br1anRogers/status/1397888274690187268

And so illustrative.

Is that JK Rowing cracking her knuckles in the distance, I hear?

I'm no fan of Arlene Foster, for a whole range of reasons. But even if I vehemently disagree with her politics, that doesn't mean she's 'fair game' for defamation.

This might have a more significant impact on online discourse for women in general. But particularly those who are targeted & harassed.

The final bill for this loss for Jessen will be huge. Absolutely massive.

@nauticant

I never realised a tweet of a single 3-letter word could be so funny:

twitter.com/Br1anRogers/status/1397888274690187268

And so illustrative.

Brilliant

Can he appeal on either the damages awarded or the decision?

@nauticant

I never realised a tweet of a single 3-letter word could be so funny:

twitter.com/Br1anRogers/status/1397888274690187268

And so illustrative.

It’s brilliant isn’t it? So succinct

@RedDogsBeg

Can he appeal on either the damages awarded or the decision?

I was listening to Frank Mitchell earlier and he has someone on discussing this, he asked the same and she said as far as she knows he can’t appeal as jessen’s conduct throughout, lack of remorse, apology etc has left no grounds for it.

Does he have to pay AF's legal costs, too?

Thanks Uhtred.

Yes he will have to pay costs, they usually follow the victor in a claim, and certainly in this case, which was absolutely damning against Jessen. Those will be the real killer. Katie Hopkins had to sell her house to pay for the costs owed to Jack Monroe - they were reported to be >£500K.

@PurgatoryOfPotholes

Does he have to pay AF's legal costs, too?

Yep

Arlene and I are poles apart politically and socially but I really felt for her when this happened, so I’m glad the court found in her favour. From reading the reports, even in the witness box Dr Jessen comes across as arrogant and disrespectful and doesn’t seem to think he should be responsible for his public statements

I'm a bit of a libel nerd, and just caught up on this - this case was hopeless from the very beginning. If you defame someone, and you receive an offer to make amends take it!

Same here, WeeBisom! I've followed a lot of libel cases over the years and I've never seen one where the defence was as hopeless as this one. Jessen really did everything wrong, and there was never any doubt about the outcome - the only question was how much he would have to pay in damages.

Lol

Great result. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving bloke!

Great news hope that wipes the smile off his smug face! Maybe dr haddock can start a crowd funder for him...

The final bill for this loss for Jessen will be huge. Absolutely massive.

Oh dear. Maybe he should have a lie down before hearing the final figure.

Honestly what is his problem?! And I certainly wouldn’t want to see a GP who behaves like this

He is most definitely NOT a GP!