Reynolds loses yet another libel case

Peter Reynolds loses defamation lawsuit against Chris Bovey in the Royal Courts of Justice

Author: Kevin John Braid

Last February, Peter Reynolds, announced on Facebook the fightback against hatred and abuse had began.

The Great Bellendo published copies of High Court writs on Facebook he had launched against cannabis activists (all associated with NORML UK). These writs cost him a grand total of £8,580 and when asked who was paying for them, he said that he was, but the people he was suing would eventually.

Reynolds was suing people for suggesting he was a racist, homophobic, bigot, on account of the fact he’d written blogs complaining there were not enough white faces in London, calling Jews evil and gay people perverts.

Reynolds was the subject of fierce criticism over the contents of his blogs and subsequently sought to amend some of his blogs to make them appear as though his views were more moderate than they were and to add some ‘balancing’ statements; self-evidently, to deceive people into thinking this is what he had originally written. However, the amended blogs were just as incendiary. He even had the bare faced cheek to claim screenshots of the original blogs were forgeries and continued to do so, even when it was proved 100% on the Way Back Machine they were not.

His use of the Courts to attempt to silence his critics was ridiculous and we’ve always believed were an abuse of the Court’s process. Seems the Courts thought so too, as we reported last December, Reynolds lost against Jewish blogger, Sarah McCulloch, and was ordered to pay her costs, which have yet to be determined.

Reynolds also sued Alun Buffry, an OAP who by his own admission lives off an old age pension and has no assets. Alun was a co-founder of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, and in the end they agreed to sign a meaningless agreement not worth the paper it was written on, because Alun couldn’t be bothered to fight it and couldn’t afford legal representation. The joke was on Reynolds though, as he paid at least £2,145 for this agreement to disagree.

With one case lost and the other obtaining a meaningless settlement, it seems Reynolds’ sights were on Greg de Hoedt and Chris Bovey, who both sit on the board of NORML UK. In the case of Greg, a medicinal cannabis user previously reported to the police by Reynolds, he has not served the court documents properly, and in the case of Chris, he picked on a man who fortunately had the means to pay for professional legal representation.

Chris Bovey, under advice from his lawyers, has been reluctant to comment much on these legal proceedings until they were over; that changed last Thursday when Reynolds’ case was struck out of court and Chris gave an in-depth interview on the blog of his fellow defendant Sarah McCulloch (who had already won her case).

Chris Bovey told Peter Reynolds Watch: “Although, I was always confident Mr Reynolds’ attempts to intimidate me via the Royal Courts of Justice would ultimately fail, that does not mean it has been a pleasant experience for me and my family, not to mention a fucking expensive one (internet defamation lawyers are not cheap). However, the Court has ordered Peter Reynolds pay my costs, which will be assessed at a date in the near future.

“I would like to in particular thank my lawyer John Spyrou for the highly professional service that he and Pinder Reaux provided and of course my Counsel, Yuli Takatsuki.

“I was never prepared to give an inch to Mr Reynolds, since I did not believe I had defamed him in any way shape or form and I’m very satisfied with the outcome. I’m just glad it’s all over so I can concentrate on positive activism, as well as my lovely family.”

But what did the Great Bellendo, Reynolds, himself have to say about his loss in the Royal Courts of Justice? It was of course to claim it as a great victory and was delighted to have cost Chris so much money in legal fees, stating he “stands not a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a penny from me”. He further stated he intended to appeal, simply to try to cost Chris more money in legal fees, although the following day he took this bit down, presumably after he’d sobered up and someone must have advised him how stupid that was.

Reynolds, in his usual vicious style also proclaimed on his blog and on Facebook that Chris was a “liar, thief and abuser”. A number of people reported these defamatory comments to Facebook and we are pleased inform you they were removed and they have given Reynolds yet another Facebook ban from posting his toxic drivel and inanities.

Reynolds further complained it was unfair that Chris Bovey had professional legal representation, while he was a lowly Litigant in Person, completely ignoring the fact he had previously sent an email to Chris specifically advising he urgently seek legal advice and that he had already lost an almost identical case against Sarah McCulloch, who acted as a Litigant in Person too.

On Sarah McCulloch’s blog, Chris was quoted as saying: “It takes six years to qualify as a solicitor or barrister, and I was given a deadline of just six weeks to prepare and submit a defence. I’m a very busy man and know little to nothing about Civil Procedure Rules or defamation law, so I was left with no choice other than to hire professional legal representation. Peter Reynolds suggested that I take legal advice, and unlike him, I did.”

We here at Peter Reynolds Watch congratulate Chris on his victory against Reynolds and wish him all the best. We hope he is successful in recouping his legal fees from Reynolds, which are apparently quite significant; we expect a rise in CLEAR’s membership fees and even more begging posts for money on their Facebook page lol.