PRO-INDEPENDENCE blogger Stuart Campbell has lost his appeal over a defamation battle with a former Scottish Labour leader.
Campbell, who runs the Wings Over Scotland blog, attempted to sue Kezia Dugdale last year when she accused him of writing “homophobic” posts on Twitter.
After a three-day hearing in Edinburgh it was decided by Sheriff Nigel Ross that Dugdale did not need to pay damages.
Ross found while Dugdale was incorrect to imply Campbell was a homophobe in her Daily Record column, she was covered by the defence of fair comment. Campbell was ordered to pay Dugdale’s legal expenses and a 50% “uplift”.
READ MORE: Wings Over Scotland v Kezia Dugdale appeal to be held virtually
Campbell appealed the ruling in the Court of Session last month where the case was heard virtually because of the coronavirus crisis. However the three judges Lord Carloway, Lord Menzies and Lord Brodie have rejected the appeal, Campbell has said on his website.
The judgement read: “The court agrees with the sheriff’s conclusion that this was indeed fair comment. The pursuer’s tweet was a derogatory remark containing a gratuitous reference to Oliver Mundell’s father’s homosexuality.
"The defender’s comments may have been expressed in strong, if not inflammatory, language. The fact that they are in 'vituperative or contumelious language' … does not avoid the defence.”
The original case stems from a tweet made by Campbell in 2017. The blogger wrote that David Mundell’s son, MSP Oliver Mundell, was “the sort of public speaker that makes you wish his dad had embraced his homosexuality sooner”.
Dugdale then accused the blogger of spouting “hatred and homophobia towards others” in her Daily Record column.
Campbell strongly denies this.
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