Cassell & Co Ltd v Broome (No 1)

Die Mercurii, 23° Februarii 1972

Parliamentary Archives,
HL/PO/JU/4/3/1220

HOUSE OF LORDS

CASSELL & COMPANY LIMITED

v.
BROOME and Another

Lord Chancellor Lord Reid
Lord Morris of Borth-y-Gest
Viscount Dilhorne
Lord Wilberforce
Lord Diplock
Lord Kilbrandon

Lord Chancellor

my lords,

NATURE OF THE PROCEEDINGS

This appeal arises out of two consolidated actions for libel on the publica-
tion of a book. The first action was in respect of the 60 proof copies of the
book, the second in respect of the principal or hard back edition of the book.
We were told that there are separate proceedings still pending in respect of
a paper back edition, published under licence by separate publishers. This
paper back edition was mentioned at all stages in the proceedings as being
potentially relevant to the question of damages. The House is not otherwise
concerned with it.

The plaintiff in the action (the first Respondent to this appeal) is a retired
Captain in the Royal Navy of unblemished reputation, who, at the time of
the matters referred to in the book, held the rank of Commander, and
occupied the responsible position of Officer Commanding the escorts in the
ill-fated convoy P.Q.17. He held active command throughout the war, and
ended his wartime naval career with his present rank of Captain in command
of the battleship Ramillies. The subject matter of the book, and its title, was
" The destruction of Convoy PQ17 " which, as is well known, was one of the
great naval disasters of the war, in which all but 11 out of over 35 merchant
vessels were sunk on their way to the Soviet Union and about 153 merchant
seamen killed by enemy action and a vast quantity of war material lost.

The defendants in the action were respectively the author of the book,
David Irving, who is the second Respondent in the appeal, and was not
represented before us, and the publishers of the book, Cassell & Co. Ltd.,
who are the Appellants.

THE RESULT OF THE TRIAL

The trial of the action took, we were told, 17 days before Lawton J. and
a jury. In the result, on the 17th February, 1970, the jury found a verdict
for the plaintiff and awarded against both defendants (1) the sum of £1,000
in respect of publication of the proof copies of the book, Counsel for the
plaintiff having waived any claim to exemplary damages on the proof
copies, (2) £14,000 described as "compensatory damages" in respect of the
hard back edition, and, (3) in respect of the hard back edition a further
sum of £25,000, described as " by way of exemplary damages ". Judgment
was entered for the sum of £40,000 against both defendants. The present
appeal relates solely to the above sum awarded " by way of exemplary
" damages " of £25,000.

So far as relevant to this appeal, the entire proceedings before Lawton J.
were conducted by all the counsel concerned and summed up by the judge
to the jury…