Greg Bowden

In a supplementary endorsement, the Court of Appeal clarified its previous decision which allowed the appellant's appeal from a trial judge's decision to grant a non-suit in a slander action.

The Court explicitly ordered a new trial before a new jury, noting that this was implicit in its original reasons but was being stated to remove any doubt.

The appellant appealed a trial judge's decision to grant the respondents' motion for non-suit and dismiss his action for slander.

The trial judge had concluded that the words allegedly uttered by the bank's employees were not reasonably capable of carrying a defamatory meaning as a matter of law.

The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge erred by withdrawing the case from the jury, as the statements were reasonably capable of implying that the appellant was attempting to access his mother's funds fraudulently.

The appeal was allowed with costs.