England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Decisions

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION

		Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
		21/02/2013

See Judgment: [2013] EWHC 283 (QB) Judgment

Mr Justice Tugendhat :

1. Mr Bennett, for reasons set out in the judgment which I handed down this morning (Neutral Citation Number [2013] EWHC 283 (QB)) I have found you to be in breach of the undertakings you gave to the court in the order dated 25 November 2009. My findings relate to thirteen breaches. I have made no finding in relation to the very large number of other breaches which the Claimants have alleged. The Claimants did not ask me to, for reasons explained in my judgment.
2. The Claimants have made clear that they consider that the question whether to impose a penalty, and if so what penalty, is a matter for the court alone to decide. Their objective in bringing this committal application has not been to see you punished, but to put a stop to the repeated conduct which you undertook to the court that you would not repeat.
3. Ms Page has made submissions to the court. But apart from making clear the stance which the Claimants adopt, these submissions are directed to reminding the court of the statutory powers and relevant case law, with a view to assisting the court to dispose of the matter in accordance with the law.
4. By the Contempt of Court 1981 s.14 the Court has power to impose a custodial sentence limited to a maximum of two years. A custodial sentence may be immediate or it may be suspended. The court also has power to impose a fine.
5. Matters which are relevant to the punishment in this case include the following. The Claimants have suffered injury to their reputations and feelings by the repetition of the allegations which you have repeated in breach of your undertakings. I have found that you have acted intentionally in the manner explained in my judgment. You were deliberately flouting the Undertakings, and the apology that you offered when giving your evidence was insincere. I am sure that you appreciated the seriousness of what you were doing, not least because you trained to be a solicitor.
6. It is also important to record, as I did in my judgment, that the Claimants and their solicitors have repeatedly warned you of the seriousness of your actions and of the consequences. They resorted to this court only when you made clear by your conduct that there was nothing else that the Claimants could do to persuade you to comply with your undertakings. The consequence of the Claimants showing this restraint has been that they have incurred very large legal costs. These costs do not reflect any complications or difficulties in the case other than the difficulties that you have intentionally put in their way.
7. In mitigation I take into account the letters which I have read from your brother and from others. You have much in your life to help others. At this hearing you have apologised again. And on this occasion I accept that your apology is sincere.
8. The overriding consideration is that the purpose of committal proceedings is to ensure that a contemnor complies in future with the undertakings which he has flouted. Your conduct in this case has been so serious that I am satisfied that nothing less than a custodial sentence would reflect the seriousness of your breaches and the harm that you have done. The sentence will be one of three months custody.
9. However, I am also satisfied that I can suspend the sentence for one year, on condition that you comply with your undertakings in the future for so long as they remain in force during that period of suspension. The effect of that will be that if you breach the undertakings during that period, you may be brought back before the court and committed to prison to serve this sentence of imprisonment and any other sentence that may be imposed upon you for the further breach.
10. I order that you pay the costs of the proceedings to be the subject of a detail assessment if not agreed.
11. The directions for the hearing of your application to vary or discharge your undertakings will be set out in an order to be drawn up.