Tyrone family receive £75k after false ‘dine and dash’ accusation

A TYRONE family wrongly accused of ‘dining and dashing’ from a bar without paying their food and drink bill are to receive £75,000 in libel damages, the High Court heard today.

Peter and Ann McGirr, along with their children Peter Junior and Carol, all sued for defamation over a Facebook posting by the Horse & Jockey Public House in the English Peak District.

False allegations that they deliberately failed to settle a £150 tab were then repeated in a number of national newspapers.

In court today a settlement was announced in the lawsuit brought against the pub and representatives of its management.

Mr Justice Colton was told the defendants have agreed to pay £75,000 in damages and cover the family’s legal costs in full.

An apology was also read out for the distress, embarrassment and reputational harm they suffered.

The McGirrs, who run a successful engineering business, issued proceedings after their CCTV images were published on the Horse & Jockey’s Facebook page in July last year.

Their barrister, Peter Girvan, said: “The post falsely suggested that the plaintiffs had left the pub without paying for food and drink, referring to them as ‘dine and dashers’.”

Similar accusations featured in at least four different tabloid newspaper reports.

“These articles contained serious and defamatory accusations that the plaintiffs had engaged in dishonest and criminal conduct by deliberately absconding without settling a bill of approximately £150,” Mr Girvan told the court.

“The allegations were entirely false. The plaintiffs had not engaged in any such conduct, and the statements made by the defendants had no factual basis.”

As part of the agreed statement it was fully acknowledged that the McGirr family did nothing wrong and should not have been subjected to serious public accusations.

With the defamatory content now removed from social media platforms, the pub accepted there was no basis whatsoever for the allegations.

Counsel representing Horse & Jockey (Peak District) Ltd, added: “The defendants unreservedly apologise to the Plaintiffs for the distress, embarrassment, and reputational harm caused by the publications.”

Outside court the family’s solicitor, Darragh Carney, of Johnsons law firm, declared them fully vindicated with the outcome.

Mr Carney said: “Our clients were compelled to take legal action given the defamatory allegations made against them.

“They are very satisfied with the settlement, which includes a damages payment of £75,000 by way of compensation for defamation of their character, together with legal costs incurred in issuing these proceedings.”