Anti-abortion group Precious Life to pay damages in libel case

An anti-abortion group has been ordered to pay a "five-figure sum" in damages to a businesswoman.

Precious Life published a false tweet about an incident in Belfast city centre, the High Court heard on Tuesday.

The group also issued an apology to Barbara Whearty as part of the settlement reached in her libel action.

Ms Whearty, who previously ran a cafe in Belfast, sued over the post on the group's account three years ago.

The tweet related to an alleged encounter with anti-abortion campaigners in Cornmarket on 1 June 2019.

At one stage Ms Whearty had been accused of assaulting activists, but charges were later dropped by the Public Prosecution Service.

Defamation proceedings were brought against Precious Life, the affiliated Youth for Life NI, and Bernadette Smyth as administrator of the group's Twitter profile.

In court on Tuesday, Mr Justice McAlinden was told that the action was to be stayed, with a statement read out on behalf of the defendants.

Barrister Peter Hopkins said: "On 1 June 2019, a member of Youth for Life NI published a tweet on the twitter account @PreciousLifeCom concerning Barbara Whearty, which contained an untrue and defamatory allegation in respect of her conduct towards Youth for Life NI members in Cornmarket, Belfast on the same day.

"It having been brought to their attention, Precious Life accepts that the tweet should not have been published on that Twitter account.

"Precious Life unreservedly withdraws that allegation and apologies to Ms Whearty for damaging her reputation.

"Accordingly, Precious Life has agreed to the payment of a five-figure sum in respect of damages and legal costs to Barbara Whearty."

Ms Whearty did not attend court for confirmation of the settlement, but in a statement she described the personal impact of the incident.

"Nothing can compensate for the trauma caused by the events of 1 June 2019 or the libellous accusations and criminal charges that were brought by the PPS on the basis of the false accusations," she said.

"The toll extorted from myself and my family as a result has been incalculable."

Her solicitor, Ciaran Moynagh of Phoenix Law, said: "This case sends an important reminder that people's action on social media can have costly real-life ramifications."