GLP are going after Sarah Phillimore and are going to lose - Part Two

[fromorbit]

The Story so Far

Part 1

The first thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5400132-glp-are-going-after-sarah-philmore-and-are-going-to-lose?page=1

Get the popcorn folks. GLP is getting ready to lose again.

They are going after barrister Sarah Phillimore for referring to a man as a man. They think they are going to lawfare her into silence.

Her blog:
Here we are now: Entertain us
I have had now 7 years and counting of the various tactics used to 'silence' those who won't comply with prevailing orthodoxy. How are those tactics holding up?
https://sarahphillimore.substack.com/p/here-we-are-now-entertain-us?

The only thing is other TAs have already tried this on Phillimore multiple times.

They went to the Bar Council their claims were dismissed. They all failed. More to the point this ‘Kate’ is the same guy complaining again who already failed. Sarah Phillimore knows the law and likes explaining it to TAs and making them lose. So she doesn't even resent the attempt.

As Sarah has stated "They pick on someone who not only enjoys this but has now a vast repository of knowledge about the law in this area."

Part 2

So the Fox Basher decided to tell massive lies about Sarah Phillimore now he faces a defamation action.

GLP's case against Sarah rested on evidence from "Kate" and this turned out to be the infamous man in a dress Sophie Sparkles. A guy who was too obnoxious, chaotic and threatening even for the Scottish Greens to tolerate. Even for someone as incompetent as the Fox Basher this plan seemed particularly bad.

A band of helpful gardeners assembled and planted a lot of seeds and soon Sarah's garden was blooming.

Sarah assembled a huge dossier of evidence about Sparkles showing his instability. She carefully built up her case using her excellent legal skills.

After giving the Fox Basher plenty of time to apologise Sarah took action for defamation in December and her blog outlines the story so far nicely:

Letter before Action
I publish here my letter to Jolyon Maugham. There is no freedom of speech to tell harmful lies about others.

For the background to all of this, please see my response to the complaint of the Good Law Project which they made to the Bar Standards Board on August 26 2025. Shortly after this complaint, Mr Maugham chose to assert to his many followers online that I had ‘led a campaign of harassment’ so wicked that it led a trans identifying man to attempt suicide. I deal with that claim at some length in my response. It is not true.

I asked via email on 30 August 2025 for Maugham to delete, apologise and make a donation of £5K to For Women Scotland. His refusal came a few days later in a series of videos posted to TikTok and Instagram where he was clearly excited about the (false) idea that JK Rowling would be joining me in legal action against him. Being able to tell his followers that he faced attack by the Nasty Billionaire Transphobe would clearly have more cachet and would attract more funds to the Good Law Project than a much less sexy tussle with a junior provincial barrister.

I am sorry to disappoint Mr Maugham. It’s just me. Well me, and the so far 990 very generous people who have helped me raise the money to be able to even contemplate this kind of legal action. My grateful thanks to every one of them. I do not think that anyone has ‘freedom of speech’ to tell harmful lies about another person and certainly not a senior member of a regulated profession, who will rely on his status to give his words power and cause harm.

https://sarahphillimore.substack.com/p/letter-before-action

Now the Bar Standards Board has decided that Sarah has no case to answer and released a letter explaining how the GLP had failed again. Details here:

Right Here. Right Now.

Another stunning technical victory for the Good Law Project shows that sanity is being restored to the public debate about gender identity, slowly but ever so surely.

On 27 March 2026 I received the welcome and to be honest not entirely expected news that the Bar Standards Board was not going to investigate further the complaint of the Good Law Project against me on behalf of trans identifying man Euan Weddell, aka Sophie Molly/Sparkles.

https://sarahphillimore.substack.com/p/right-here-right-now

GLP are planning to release a statement which will no doubt spin what has happened as much as possible in its usual style.

Will the Fox Basher's long history of misogynistic hatred for any women who has knowledge about biology and legal incompetence come back to haunt him again?

If he is defeated it will be a warning to all TAs that this type of bigotry and massive lies are not going to be accepted legally in a country where women and men are legally equal.

Whatever happen's Sarah's bravery once again will pay a significant part in restoring a world in which discussing the reality of the existence of male and female human beings is accepted.

Her garden still needs more plants, and harvest so far has been excellent and you can keep watching this thread for more proof of that.

So the GLP have now updated their site, including the BSB's reaction to the Phillimore complaint.

But they've redacted a lot of what they refer to as "private information". You'll not be surprised to find that the redactions include all of Weddell's threats and viciousness towards women. and named individuals.

So much for transparency, Maugham.

I'm frankly astonished that they didn't manage to spin it as some kind of victory. I guess "BSB mean! BSB wrong!" will have to do:

We will be asking the BSB to refer its decision not to investigate Phillimore to an Independent Reviewer – the next step in taking the complaint forward – and, should the BSB continue to refuse to investigate, we expect to bring judicial review proceedings against it.

GLP’s founder, Jolyon Maugham, is also being threatened with a defamation claim by Phillimore. She says she is currently preparing her claim. Jolyon will defend any proceedings brought against him.

https://goodlawproject.org/bar-standards-board-fails-to-act-on-barrister-harassment/

Sounds like Sparkle's attempts and Tarquin's broken phone are both things that have been blamed on multiple people on multiple occasions without evidence - or the same evidence used multiple times.

Well that was a waste of time, given that Sarah has already published the letter in full. Plus everybody and his dog knows who Kate is 😁

A selection of posts from sparkles blaming 3 different entities for his suicide attempts. No mention of Sarah

Is Jolyon actually unwell? He seems to be making very irrational decisions. I understand that he sees himself as a noble crusader, but why on earth does he hitch his wagon to people like that!? Surely there are less problematic individuals he could focus a claim around?

Surely there are less problematic individuals he could focus a claim around?

A. Are there? Really?

B. And if there are, would they want jolly old Jolyon representing them?

Maybe it's more the case that "less problematic individuals" don't want to hitch their wagon to his?...

https://goodlawproject.org/bar-standards-board-fails-to-act-on-barrister-harassment/

Bar Standards Board fails to act on barrister harassment

Barrister Sarah Phillimore repeatedly deadnamed and misgendered a trans woman online. Her regulator has rejected our complaint but we won’t be giving up
In August 2025, we complained to the Bar Standards Board (BSB) after Sarah Phillimore shared more than 50 posts across multiple social media platforms that referred to Kate*, frequently in derogatory terms. In those posts, Phillimore misgendered, deadnamed and shared photos of Kate, and used graphic language about her genitals. Following that campaign Kate made an attempt on her own life – as is evident from her GP records.

As a barrister, Phillimore is meant to be held to high standards by the Bar Standards Board. The board’s handbook makes clear that barristers must not “behave in a way which is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in you or in the profession”.
And in September 2025, an independent review of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment at the Bar by Baroness Harriet Harman KC recommended that:

“If a barrister who is bullying or harassing another person online can be identified as a member of the profession (by virtue of his/her name, title, or the content of the comments), then the conduct ought to engage the remit of the regulator. Where online abuse is aggravated by any form of discrimination, such as misogyny or racism, the threshold for regulatory action should always be triggered on the basis that it is highly likely that such conduct will undermine trust and confidence in the profession.”

Despite this, the BSB has rejected our complaint, concluding that “an investigation does not need to be started and that no further action should be taken”.
In its decision, the BSB said that “The context of [Kate’s] social media and public comments has brought her own trans status into the debate” and “We do not consider that [Phillimore] singles [Kate] out for cruel treatment, such that her behaviour victimises [Kate]”. You can read its decision, redacted of private information, here.

We made our complaint to the BSB after taking advice from counsel, including King’s Counsel, and we stand by our view that Phillimore’s awful conduct is harassment.

We will be asking the BSB to refer its decision not to investigate Phillimore to an Independent Reviewer – the next step in taking the complaint forward – and, should the BSB continue to refuse to investigate, we expect to bring judicial review proceedings against it.

GLP’s founder, Jolyon Maugham, is also being threatened with a defamation claim by Phillimore. She says she is currently preparing her claim. Jolyon will defend any proceedings brought against him.
Should you wish to contribute to the costs of defending Phillimore’s defamation claim, or our work defending the right of trans people to live dignified lives free from harassment, you can do so below.

*Kate’s name has been changed because of concerns about her safety. We have also redacted the BSB’s letter only to remove information which might identify Kate.

Not sure why GLP is continuing with calling Weddell ‘Kate’, as he’s splashed this complaint all over his own BlueSky account.

I really loved that the bar standards response used Sparkles actual name and all of his spelling mistakes.

irs so awful that he’d weaponise suicide. His sister died of anorexia. It must be very hard for hi family, especially his mum, to see him behave like that. It’s cruel.

The great thing about Jolyon going after the BSB is that Sarah doesn't have to do anything. she can just sit back and watch.

As for the libel case:

Sarah Phillimore on X: "I am taking advice on whether I should add the Good Law Project to my claim. The one huge disadvantage to that is it will then have to find other legal representation and I think it’s entirely within my interests, and everyone else’s enjoyment, to keep them on board as" / X

Not sure why GLP is continuing with calling Weddell ‘Kate’, as he’s splashed this complaint all over his own BlueSky account.

They are fundraising from all this. If people knew Kate was Sparkles and his long history of harassing and threatening behaviour they would not be getting much money.

A judicial review of the BSB??!! Sure thing honey.

You love to see it.

The GLP have repeated Maugham's original defamatory statement in this update. Do we think that he wants Sarah to include them so he can access the full funds & reserves and therefore not personally on the hook for the ££££ when she wins?

For sure. But she is aware.

A fiendish plan! 😂

He watched that hours long video about eunuchs in the cinema. I can't forget that.

gosh, it’s a prime tactic of manipulators to use self harm threats. My friends abusive ex kept her holding on to a toxic marriage because she was scared he’d kill himself as he threatened to do that if she left.

Thats the problem when you’re a fantasist who tells untruths. You forget the lies and who you told them to. Doing it on social media where screenshots can be kept is just idiocy.

They haven’t bothered to check Sparkles’ social media history but presumably will have seen this on twitter but will presumably press on… At what stage will the GLP be labelled a vexatious litigant?

The GLP has so many crowd funders on their website .

And they all go into one pot.

The court can award damages individually from each defendant, if it wishes, as well as a sum to be paid jointly. Assuming she wins and gets an award of damages then JM could well have to pay damages from his own pocket as well as GLP from theirs.

But the GLP would not be able to represent Maugham in any way. If she includes them.

Humiliation fetish?