Man found guilty of Facebook libel fined £10,000

A Staffordshire man has won £10,000 in libel damages after his former friend posted an image of child sex abuse on his Facebook page and called him a homosexual paedophile.

The post was removed within 24 hours, but Mr Justice Tugendhat at Stafford Crown Court said the allegations made by Jeremy Barber against Raymond Bryce and posted on the social networking site, could not only have damaged Bryce's reputation, but left him in danger of being physically attacked.

Justice Tugendhat said: “This was not only defamatory, but a defamation which goes to a central aspect of Mr Bryce's private life as well as his public reputation.

“This post was deeply offensive to him, but also a cause for alarm. It is well known that people accused of being paedophiles may be subjected to serious violence, even when there is no basis for the accusation.

“Damages in libel actions are awarded as compensation, not as punishment, to vindicate reputation, to compensate for harm to that reputation and as compensation for injury to feelings."

At the end of 2008, Mr Barber, a chef posted a picture of child sex abuse on law student Mr Bryce's Facebook page, along with the message: "Ray, you like kids and you are gay so I bet you love this picture, ha ha", according to The Sentinel newspaper in Staffordshire, where Mr Bryce lives.

Mr Barber had earlier been sentenced to community service for the offence of distributing the image, and must now pay £10,000 in damages.