Griffiths v Tickle [2021] EWCA Civ 1882
Date: 10 December 2021
Barrister/s: Lucy Reed KC
Area/s of law: Children Public Law, Children Private Law, Family & Divorce
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The Court of Appeal today handed down judgment in Griffiths v Tickle [2021] EWCA Civ 1882. Lucy Reed acted for the applicant journalist who wished to report the contents of a fact finding judgment delivered in the course of Children Act 1989 proceedings, and to identify the parents, where the court had made serious findings of abuse by the father against the mother.
The father accepted that the judgment could be published but argued that the interests of the child made it necessary that he, the mother, and the child should all be anonymised, and that there should be additional redaction of some details. Unusually, the mother supported publication, wishing to be able to tell her story. The child’s guardian also supported publication. The application was unusual because of the parent’s identities, and the fact of prior press coverage concerning the father which was inconsistent with the findings.
The media sought to be able to ‘set the record straight’. Lucy secured the approval for publication of the judgment from Lieven J at first instance, and successfully defended the father’s subsequent appeal to the Court of Appeal. The father’s application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court was refused as totally without merit and a stay refused.