Tony Bennett’s letter to Carter-Ruck
sent at 5pm on 17 August 2011
Dear Ms Hudson,
At 3.35pm this afternoon I took delivery of a package from yourself containing a 5-page letter explaining why your clients consider I have breached the undertaking given to them on 25 November 2009, plus two ring-binders containing a schedule of 54 articles, postings, threads or parts of threads which your clients require to be removed or amended.
The Post Office attempted to deliver the package whilst I was away on holiday. The package was not marked 'Special Delivery' nor 'Recorded Delivery', nor 'Urgent', nor 'First Class', despite being marked 'Most Urgent' on page 1 of your letter.
I have had barely one hour to consider the contents of your letter and enclosures but will say this at this stage:
1. In view of your clients requests, I will embark straightaway, without any admission of liability or concession as to being in contempt of court as you allege, on removing or amending the articles or threads to which your client objects. They will be accompanied by the following message, or similar:
Following receipt of a package by Tony Bennett from Carter-Ruck at 3.35pm on 17 August 2011, this article/post has been removed/amended pending the outcome of further correspondence with Carter-Ruck.
2. On a cursory examination of your client's demands, there is some material that might possibly be argued to come closer to being treated as contempt of court than others. I cannot be expected to comply with every single request they make, and here the Englishman's right of free speech and the Articles in the European Court of Human Rights guaranteeing freedom of speech and expression would have to be weighted very carefully by any Judge trying to decide whether I have been in contempt of the undertaking. I will need some time to consider your clients' demands one by one and in some cases I may not be able to agree to remove the articles.
3. Furthermore, I undertake no later than 1pm tomorrow to send you a more considered and fuller response to your letter, by e-mail. I will add that I shall be away from home from 1pm tomorrow until Sunday and out of e-mail contact during that period. Because of the occasional unreliability of e-mail communications I must ask that any substantive letters from you be sent by hard copy please.
Sincerely,
Tony Bennett
