Innis (Collin) v Kingsley Thomas

• Jurisdiction: Jamaica
• Judge: PUSEY,J.(Actg.)
• Judgment Date: 20 April 2005
• Judgment citation (vLex): [2005] 4 JJC 2001
• Date: 20 April 2005
• Court: Supreme Court (Jamaica)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE OF JAMAICA

BETWEEN

COLLIN INNIS

CLAIMANT

AND

KINGSLEY THOMAS

DEFENDANT

DAMAGES - Libel

DEFAMATION -

PUSEY,J.(Actg.)

1 This matter is a rather unusual defamation matter in that it relates to an incident at which both the defendant and claimant were present and the libel claimed purports to be a written report of that incident. The claimant was the director of projects of the Sugar Industry Housing Limited (SIHL) a company whose purpose is to provide low cost housing for workers in the sugar industry. The defendant is the chairman of the Board of the National Housing Trust (NHT) a statutory corporation established to fund low cost housing development.

2 A meeting was held on 1 ^st December 1999 to deal with the funding of housing for sugar workers. Present were representatives of trade unions which represented workers in the sugar industry, representatives of the sugar producers, officials of SIHL including the claimant and officials of NHT including the defendant. The defendant indicated at the meeting that the NHT would no longer fund houses developed by SIHL as there were significant cost overrun in these projects.

3 After the meeting the claimant and the defendant spoke outside the meeting room. It is common ground that the parties did not know each other although the claimant said that he had been at other meetings at which the defendant was present. The parties' account of the encounter differs greatly so it is necessary to set them out in detail.

4 The claimant in his witness statement stated:

"I was standing outside the meeting hall and the defendant approached me and greeted me. We shook hands and I said to him, "you know Mr. Thomas, I am really surprised that for a big man like yourself you could sit in a room with all these people and feed them with such utter garbage. You know that what you were saying was a lot of rubbish and you continued to say it as though you believed it."

At this point the defendant pulled his hand away, stepped back and shouted twice "all right, all right" and said that he would resign. At this time Dr. Munroe who was standing a little behind the defendant said "Gentlemen, what about conflict resolution?". The defendant then left the building."

5 Dr. Munroe, who was present at the meeting as a representative of one of the Trade Unions was not called as a witness by any party.

6 The defendant also gives his version of the incident in his witness statement:-

"At the end of the meeting, as I had already exited the meeting room and proceeded to my car, a gentleman (who was also at the meeting) and whom I did not know, approached me in a menacing and threatening manner, and said in a loud voice, "what kind of bullshit you talking in the meeting?", Both his tone and his approach to my person I considered hostile and threatening. This caused me to fear that he would commit an assault upon my person, and particularly since I did not know who he was, I felt fearful and threatened.

I responded to his threat by saying, "I will resign as Chairman of the National Housing Trust if this is your behaviour, because I am afraid of you guys. I will resign if I am standing in your way."

At the time of this exchange, Mr. Earl Samuels ... and Dr. Trevor Munroe ... were standing nearby and they heard the exchange between the claimant and myself."

7 It is common ground that Mr. Turnbull, the claimant's superior at SIHL wrote to the defendant protesting the decision of the NHT as set out by the defendant at the meeting of 1 ^st December 1999. The defendant replied to that letter and after dealing with the reasons for the decision of the NHT refers to the incident with the claimant in the following terms.

"At the end of the December 01, meeting a Mr. Innis, who accompanied you to the meeting, approached me in a threatening and menacing manner. I wish to place on record my very strong objection to his behaviour. In light of what I consider to be Mr. Innis' foul and threatening language, I have found it necessary to take certain precautions in the interest of my personal safety."

8 This letter was accompanied by a distribution list of some 17 persons, namely persons who attended the meeting and the members of the Board of NHT. It is this statement written in the letter that the claimant says has libeled him.

9 The claimant has pleaded that the words used meant and were understood to mean:-

• (a) That the claimant has threatened physical violence to the defendant.

• (b) That the claimant is a danger to society;

• (c) That the claimant is likely to use physical violence against the defendant in the future;

• (d) That the claimant is likely to commit a criminal offence by injuring the defendant.

• (e) That the...