Billionaire Brothers Bankrupt a Blogger for Defaming Them
The Easdale brothers
Two billionaires financially ruined a blogger. Maybe that’s a good thing.
You see, Paul Hendry accused brothers Sandy Easdale and James Easdale, who own McGill's Buses (Scotland’s largest independent bus company), of organized crime: an inflammatory, scandalous claim that apparently wasn’t factual.
The legal outcome of that entrenched conflict: The Easdales were awarded nearly $253,000 each. The Sunday Mail reports that none of it has yet to be paid.
Since then, the court has moved the order on to the “Official Receiver” who, in England, can sell any of losing party’s assets to pay the compensation award.
Oh my. Ouch! For Hendry, that reportedly could mean the loss of his home.
Hendry, who uses the pseudonym “Art Hostage” put himself in his dire straits on social media in March of 2023 when he said the Easdales are "gangsters."
The court were not impressed. It ordered Hendry to stop his accusations and take down posts and videos carrying the derogatory claims and not repeat them.
He was called back to court after he repeated the allegations on social media in November and December.
Hendry’s misconduct led to him being found in contempt of court. Not good.
This time, he did reportedly apologize to the Easdales. The judge — Lord Braid — told Hendry to stop communicating falsehoods and if he was to again reject-and-disobey that order, he could expect a “custodial sentence.”
What evidence did the blogger have that gave him supreme confidence that he could publicly communicate that two people were members of organized crime? What made me so confident that he would not face life-changing consequences?
No facts and evidence and shameful claims can be perceived by the courts as defamation. What Hendry communicated was not presented as opinion. It was asserted as factual. He was emotional using the word “gangsters.” His social media (Twitter) says he is a citizen journalist.
A journalist reporting that people are “gangsters” is a lot different than someone writing an opinion piece. Hendry could have framed his communication (writing and video) differently and likely have been legally safe. He could have communicated disgust using different wording and likely also have been safe.
But he didn’t and now his life is a mess that is causing intense stress and misery.
As for the Easdale brothers, they might look like the bad guys here and maybe in some ways they are, but if there was no factual basis for being called gangsters by Hendry and he did so repeatedly anyway, harming their business, families and themselves, then they were victimized and therefore objectively possessed the moral justification for seeking legal and court assistance.
Research source: Reporters Norman Silvester and Chiara Pollock at Glasgow Live
Their story provided at this link.
Michael Toebe is a reputation consultant, advisor and communications specialist at Reputation Intelligence: Reputation Quality, assisting individuals and organizations with further building reputation as an asset or ethically and responsibly protecting, restoring or reconstructing it.
Contact: 316-226-4071
