Gangmaster sues Guardian

We are currently writing an essay in our law module on the reasons why libel cases have fallen off in recent years,the title suggests that it may be due to the Reynolds defence.

I was therefore interested to see Press Gazette reporting this morning that the gangmaster Andris Tiltnieks has launched a £3.7 million libel claim against the publishers of The Guardian.


He has issued the writ in person without the backing of a legal team.It concerns an article back in 2006 which alleged that his company

illegally employed and exploited Bulgarian workers, who were forced to live like pigs on scraps, scavenging vegetables from fields where they worked, and were housed in dirty caravans. The story also claimed that workers had not been paid for 34 days, and that Baltic Work Team had its gangmaster licence revoked for abuses of employment law.

Will the paper claim the public interest defence?