Defamation occurs when a statement that refers to an identifiable legal person is published to a third party that has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the identified person’s reputation.

Serious harm to reputation is capable of being inferred from the words published. It is for the Claimant to show serious harm to reputation. The starting point is that the statements complained of are accepted as being false – it is open to the defendant to argue that the statements complained of are true, but the burden is on the defendant to show this.