NAME ME AND I'LL SUE
‘Lawyers acting for a leading Premiership footballer alleged
to have been involved in the rape of a 17 year-old girl will
attempt to sue individuals who spread rumours of the
player's identity online.
‘The threat of action comes in the wake of widespread
speculation on message boards and websites about the
identity of eight players alleged to have been involved in
an assault.
‘It would mark one of the first time lawyers have sought to
bring a defamation action against an online source.
‘The player's agent said yesterday that he was doing all he
could to keep his client's name out of the public domain,
and said he was considering legal action to protect the
player.
‘"We're working to protect a guy who is completely innocent
and when the dust has settled people will get sued, we are
going to have to make an example of someone. There's been a
lot of rubbish around about these allegations, some reckless
newspaper reports as well as rumours on the Internet. There
are one or two people we have identified who have sent
emails and just because this stuff is on the Internet
doesn't mean that they are immune from the law.
‘"We will protect our client aggressively - his name has
been dragged into allegations that are completely untrue and
we will defend him to the hilt."’
to have been involved in the rape of a 17 year-old girl will
attempt to sue individuals who spread rumours of the
player's identity online.
‘The threat of action comes in the wake of widespread
speculation on message boards and websites about the
identity of eight players alleged to have been involved in
an assault.
‘It would mark one of the first time lawyers have sought to
bring a defamation action against an online source.
‘The player's agent said yesterday that he was doing all he
could to keep his client's name out of the public domain,
and said he was considering legal action to protect the
player.
‘"We're working to protect a guy who is completely innocent
and when the dust has settled people will get sued, we are
going to have to make an example of someone. There's been a
lot of rubbish around about these allegations, some reckless
newspaper reports as well as rumours on the Internet. There
are one or two people we have identified who have sent
emails and just because this stuff is on the Internet
doesn't mean that they are immune from the law.
‘"We will protect our client aggressively - his name has
been dragged into allegations that are completely untrue and
we will defend him to the hilt."’