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Gerry and Kate McCann went to
court over Bennett's actions not to punish
him but to put a stop to his repeated
conduct, the judge said. Photograph:
Lefteris Pitarakis/AP |
A retired solicitor who published claims that Madeleine McCann's
parents caused her death has been given a suspended
jail sentence.
Mr Justice Tugendhat said 65-year-old
Tony Bennett
deliberately flouted legal undertakings, given in
November 2009, not to repeat allegations about the
couple. He said his conduct was so serious that
nothing less than a custodial sentence of three
months suspended for one year would reflect the harm
he had done.
Finding Bennett guilty of contempt of court, Tugendhat said: "I am
sure that he intended to allege that the claimants
are to be suspected of causing the death of their
daughter, and did in fact dispose of her body, lie
about what happened and covered up what they had
done."
The London high court judge said he was satisfied that Bennett, of
Harlow, Essex, was in breach of the undertakings in
each of the 13 representative instances before the
court – out of 153 publications complained of. He
was not asked to make findings in relation to the
other alleged breaches.
He said: "It is essential for the rule of law that injunctions and
court orders be obeyed. It can't be an answer that
the person who is giving an undertaking or subject
to an injunction can ignore it with impunity while
it is in force."
Bennett, who was ordered to pay the costs of the litigation,
apologised to the court. He said: "I recognise the
distress I have caused on a number of occasions to
the claimants. I would like to apologise to them for
that distress."
The judge said Gerry and Kate McCann, who did not attend court, had
suffered injury to their reputations and feelings,
and had resorted to legal action not to punish
Bennett but to put a stop to his repeated conduct.
He agreed with lawyers for the McCanns that Bennett had played "cat and mouse"
with them by complying with the undertakings some of
the time. "He was testing them with false or
disingenuous assurances and demands for explanations
to which, as a member of the public with no
responsibility for law enforcement, he was not
entitled."
