According to reports, Smith, who put himself forward
for the Portsmouth North seat at the last election, was a
participant in a discussion on the Iraq war, held on a discussion
board run by Yahoo!. Another participant, Tracy Williams, had taken
objection to his anti-war comments and, using an alias, had posted
a series of defamatory remarks about Mr Smith.
These included calling him a racist and a sex offender,
according to reports. Smith sued, obtained court orders enabling
him to identify the person behind the remarks, and has now won a
defamation action against Williams.
Judge Alistair MacDuff ruled that the remarks were clearly
defamatory and awarded Smith £10,000 damages. He issued an
injunction, prohibiting Williams from repeating the remarks, and
ordered her to pay the costs involved in bringing the action.
Ms Williams did not defend the action.
"I'm happy with the judge's ruling but firms hosting online chat
rooms should be prepared to get involved and step in to moderate
defamatory statements,” Smith told The Guardian newspaper.
