Ben Stokes privacy action results in apology by the UK Sun and an apology
August 30, 2021 |
On 17 September 2019 the Sun published a story about the murder suicide of Ben Stokes mother’s ex husband 31 years previously in New Zealand. The story is no longer available on line. The murder was of his mother’s two children. This tragic event occurred before Ben Stokes, a prominent English cricketer, was born. At the time Ben Stokes reacted furiously to the story describing it as disgusting and immoral. The Guardian ran a detailed piece with Ben Stokes attacks ‘despicable’ Sun story about family tragedy. The next month Ben Stokes and his mother, Deborah, issued proceeding in the UK Court of Chancery. The Particulars of Claim was served on 22 January 2020 with the Defence filed on 16 April 2020.
The nub of the defence was that, first, the story about the murders were covered by the New Zealand media and, secondly, the Sun obtained an on the record interview with the family and had approached Ben Stokes for comment.
At the time, and subsequently, there was a lively debate about whether the report was one of free expression and/or a legitimate story to report versus privacy. On 18 September 2019 the independent came out in support of the Sun. At the time the Conversation in Ben Stokes v The Sun: gross intrusion or simple reportage? How media privacy law works highlighted some of the issues, such whether a privacy claim can be brought when the information is in the public domain, and whether a claim can be made by a person when it relates to inter related parties.
There was no trial on the merits. The Sun and Stokes settled on favourable terms to Stokes. The Stokes’ solicitors released a statement confirming as much stating:
We are able to confirm that our clients, Ben Stokes and his mother, Deborah Stokes, have reached a settlement of their High Court claim against The Sun for breach of privacy arising out of a front-page article published on 17th September 2019.
Paul Lunt, solicitor to Ben and Deborah Stokes and Head of Litigation, said “The Sun has apologised to Ben and Deborah. The paper has accepted that the article ought never to have seen the light of day. The apology to our clients acknowledges the great distress caused to Ben, Deborah and their family by what was a gross intrusion – and exploitation – of their privacy.
“Substantial damages have also been paid, as well as payment of legal costs.
Deborah Stokes said:
“The decision to publish this article was a decision to expose, and to profit from exposing, intensely private and painful matters within our family. The suffering caused to our family by the publication of this article is something we cannot forgive.
“Ben and I can take no pleasure in concluding this settlement with The Sun. We can only hope that our actions in holding the paper to account will leave a lasting mark, and one that will contribute to prevent other families from having to suffer the same pain as was inflicted on our family by this article.”
First, the Sun published an apology:
On 17 September 2019 we published a story titled, ‘Tragedy that Haunts Stokes’ Family’ which described a tragic incident that had occurred to Deborah Stokes, the mother of Ben Stokes, in New Zealand in 1988.
The article caused great distress to the Stokes family, and especially to Deborah Stokes.
We should not have published the article. We apologise to Deborah and Ben Stokes. We have agreed to pay them damages and their legal costs.
Even though this case did not reach trial, let alone judgment, it is significant in dealing with legitimate privacy interests of stories long forgotten and of no journalistic merit. The Sun dredged up the tragic events because in 2019 Ben Stokes was a very high profile cricketeer who had captured the imagination of the British public.
The Guardian provides a very useful summary with The Sun pays damages to Ben Stokes over family tragedy story which provides:
Tabloid apologises to cricketer and his mother and says 2019 article should not have been published.
The Sun has paid substantial damages to the England cricketer Ben Stokes and his mother, Deborah, after the newspaper put details of a tragedy involving the family on its front page.
Deborah Stokes said they took legal action over the September 2019 article headlined “tragedy that haunts Stokes’ family” to ensure others did not have to endure similar stories.
The tabloid also apologised to the pair, agreed to pay their legal costs and issued a public statement saying the story, about an incident that took place before the cricketer was born, should never have been published.
Deborah Stokes said: “The decision to publish this article was a decision to expose, and to profit from exposing, intensely private and painful matters within our family. The suffering caused to our family by the publication of this article is something we cannot forgive.
“Ben and I can take no pleasure in concluding this settlement with the Sun. We can only hope that our actions in holding the paper to account will leave a lasting mark, and one that will contribute to prevent other families from having to suffer the same pain as was inflicted on our family by this article.”
It is unclear why the Sun decided to settle the case after two years rather than take it to court. The newspaper originally argued that a privacy claim was unjustified because the article was based on archive news reports that were widely published in the New Zealand media in the 1980s and remained in the public domain, albeit not easily available online.
The paper had also argued that the article included an on-the-record interview with a member of the Stokes family after a Sun reporter visited the family home, and that they approached Ben Stokes for a comment before publication.
However, the Sun has now issued an unreserved apology after the Stokes family filed a claim through solicitors Brabners, saying: “We should not have published the article.”
The newspaper has been attempting to soften its image in recent years. One Sun journalist said the article had been published under the previous editor Tony Gallagher, who has since been replaced by Victoria Newton.
Stokes is on an indefinite leave of absence from all forms of cricket to “prioritise his mental wellbeing”.
The Sun’s statement read: “On 17 September 2019 we published a story titled ‘Tragedy that Haunts Stokes’ Family’ which described a tragic incident that had occurred to Deborah Stokes, the mother of Ben Stokes, in New Zealand in 1988. The article caused great distress to the Stokes family, and especially to Deborah Stokes. We should not have published the article. We apologise to Deborah and Ben Stokes. We have agreed to pay them damages and their legal costs.”
