In a precedent-setting court case, a pub that used social media to wrongly accuse a family of leaving its premises without paying their bill must now pay them £75,000 damages, plus legal costs.
In July last year, the Horse and Jockey pub, in Tideswell, Derbyshire, used its Facebook page to post CCTV images of Peter and Ann McGirr and their two children, alongside text claiming that the couple had ordered and ate two ribeye steaks, two gammon steaks and several beers, then left without settling the £150 bill.
Unfortunately for the owners of the Horse and Jockey, it later turned out that a member of its staff had taken a card payment from the McGirrs, but failed to put the transaction through the till.
The aggrieved family, from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, subsequently sued the pub for libel, saying they had suffered ‘significant embarrassment and reputational bias’ after the story was picked up and circulated by local and national news outlets.
At Belfast Crown Court, their barrister, Peter Girvan, said: “These articles contained serious and defamatory accusations that the plaintiffs had engaged in dishonest and criminal conduct by deliberately absconding without settling a bill of approximately £150.
“The allegations were entirely false. The plaintiffs had not engaged in any such conduct, and the statements made by the defendants had no factual basis.”
As part of the settlement, the pub and its management agreed to pay £75,000 in damages and cover all legal costs.
An apology was also read out in court which acknowledged the distress caused and fully cleared the family of any wrongdoing.
