The defendant moved to set aside a default judgment granted against him for defamatory comments he posted online under a pseudonym.
The plaintiffs had obtained a Norwich order to identify him and served him via email.
The defendant admitted to receiving the emails but claimed he thought they were a scam and ignored them until he realized the plaintiffs had discovered his actual identity.
The court dismissed the motion, finding that the defendant made a conscious decision not to participate in the proceedings, failed to move promptly, and lacked a compelling defence on the merits.
The court emphasized that allowing the defendant to reopen the case after forcing the plaintiffs to expend significant resources to unearth his identity would be an abuse of process.