Whiterose Blackmans Solicitors secure final harassment injunction, £11,000 damages and legal costs for two Leeds businessmen at the County Court.
Mr Wakash Waheed of Whiterose Blackmans Solicitors was instructed by two Leeds businessmen in a claim for damages and injunctive relief pursuant to sections 1 and 3 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
Having secured an interim injunction earlier this year, we were instructed to apply for summary judgment and final orders pursuant to CPR 24.3(a) and (b). After persuasive submissions made by Ms Eleanor Guildford of St Paul’s Chambers who was instructed to represent the Claimants at the hearing, the Court granted a final injunction, £11,000.00 in damages plus legal costs to be paid by the Defendant.
The Court considered the Defendant’s persistent and oppressive course of conduct over a six-month period following the dissolution of a romantic relationship between the first Claimant and Defendant. The Claimants’ witness statements outlined a chronology of escalating behaviour including, amongst other things, unwanted attendances at their property late at night, making up to 30 telephone calls per day and publishing false, derogatory and threatening posts and videos on social media to the world at large, identifying the Claimants and their wider family.
In particular, the Court considered the harassing element of the Defendant’s conduct derived largely from the way in which the behaviour was perpetrated rather than the meaning of words published. For example: (i) the Defendant had utilised a variety of telephone numbers which had the effect of concealing the Defendant’s identity; (ii) messages and attendances occurred at unsociable hours; (iii) calls were made to the Claimants’ place of work, and (iv) social media posts identified them by name and tagged several media outlets, thereby maximising the Claimants’ suffering.
Damages for harassment are quantified by reference to the Vento guidelines, which originate from the case of Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police (No. 2) [2002] EWCA Civ 1871. The Vento bands have been increased numerous times since: see the latest Employment Tribunal’s Presidential Guidance, dated 25 March 2024.
“a lower band of £1,200 to £11,700 (less serious cases); a middle band of £11,700 to £35,200 (cases that do not merit an award in the upper band); and an upper band of £35,200 to £58,700 (the most serious cases), with the most exceptional cases capable of exceeding £58,700”.
The Claimants were awarded their costs of the application and special damages for the first Claimant who had been forced to leave his home on several occasions to protect himself from the Defendant’s conduct.
A succinct summary of the jurisprudence in this area can be found at paragraphs 40-44 of Nicklin J’s judgment in Hayden v Dickinson [2020] EWHC 3291 (QB) and at paragraphs 20-23 of Collins Rice J’s Judgment in LCG v OVD [2023] EWHC 2058 (KB).
Mr Waheed regularly acts for Claimants and Defendants in civil harassment injunction matters and is frequently instructed to undertake advisory work and represent clients.
AUTHOR
Wakash Waheed
Partner and Head of Civil and Commercial Departments
Whiterose Blackmans Solicitors LLP, Diamond House, 116 Brudenell Road, Leeds, LS6 1LS