\n<\/p>\n
V<\/span>erity Nevitt was just 21, a student living away from home for the first time, when she learned she and her twin sister, Lucy, were going to be sued in the high court. Someone knocked on the door of her London house share with a big bundle of papers and asked her to sign for them.<\/p>\n A year earlier, the sisters had reported a man to the police, accusing him of sexually assaulting Verity and then, after she had left the house, raping Lucy. When the case was dropped by police, they decided to name him on social media, in order to warn others. The man responded by suing them for misuse of private information, harassment and eventually defamation.<\/p>\n Their world was turned upside down: they had been the alleged victims but now they were the ones having to defend themselves.<\/p>\n <\/span>Twins Lucy Nevitt (with hairband) and Verity Nevitt in the House of Lords for the launch of the Index on Censorship report in October 2025.<\/span> Photograph: Verity Nevitt<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want to engage with it,\u201d Verity says. \u201cThe biggest difficulty for me was knowing he was abusing this process, I didn\u2019t want it to be entertained. It was so audacious.\u201d<\/p>\n The sisters eventually reached an out-of-court agreement. Having waived their right to anonymity they could talk about the case in the media and share many of the details, but could not name the man. Since then they have campaigned on behalf of victims of sexual violence through their own nonprofit, the Gemini Project.<\/p>\n One of their main objectives is to end the use of legal threats and vexatious lawsuits against those who speak out. The practice is known as strategic litigation against public participation, or Slapp.<\/p>\n The government defines Slapps as \u201can abuse of the legal process, where the primary objective is to harass, intimidate and financially and psychologically exhaust one\u2019s opponent via improper means\u201d.<\/p>\n Industry watchdog the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) says most cases often do not even reach court, because a letter from a solicitor can be enough to make the person receiving it fall silent. If a case reaches trial, the legal bill can be as much as \u00a31m for each party. Damages are on top, and the loser can end up paying the other side\u2019s costs. Only the wealthy can afford to hire lawyers to bring such cases, or defend them.<\/p>\n Months after being elected prime minister, Keir Starmer promised action. He described abuse of the courts by the rich and powerful as \u201cintolerable\u201d, saying his government would \u201ctackle the use of Slapps\u201d.<\/p>\n The justice minister, Sarah Sackman, has drafted measures to be enacted during the next parliament. But that plan is thought to have been shelved. It seems unlikely there will be anti-Slapp legislation announced in the king\u2019s speech scheduled for 13 May.<\/p>\n Labour is focused on reducing the courts\u2019 backlog by cutting the number of jury trials, a proposal that has set it on a collision course with many lawyers and its own MPs. Wary of fighting on separate fronts, Downing Street seems to have decided to prioritise jury overhauls over Slapps.<\/p>\n In a statement, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said it would set out its programme \u201cin the usual way\u201d in the king\u2019s speech, adding: \u201cWe are continuing to engage with stakeholders as we consider further action to clamp down on Slapps in other areas.\u201d<\/p>\n It is understood ministers do not want to legislate in haste, and any decision will take time.<\/p>\n But the pressure for action is growing. Last month, 111 members of the House of Lords signed a letter calling for legislation. The group was cross party, and included eight former cabinet ministers, two former BBC chiefs and senior lawyers.<\/p>\n Resistance has come from a small but influential group of law firms that specialise in defamation and privacy cases. In 2023, they formed a lobby, the Society of Media Lawyers. The members\u2019 page on its website lists solicitors from firms such as Carter-Ruck, Simkins, Harbottle & Lewis and Mishcon de Reya \u2013 and a number of barristers, including one who acted in the case against the Nevitts.<\/p>\n Setting out their position in a letter to the Law Society, the group claimed to have been unfairly singled out for criticism and underlined the importance of their role in \u201cproviding access to justice for victims of unlawful misreporting and press intrusion\u201d.<\/p>\n However, this is not just a battle between the media and the legal profession. Many of those targeted by Slapps are not journalists but grassroots campaigners, academics, whistleblowers and, all too often, victims of sexual violence.<\/p>\n Jeff Thomson and his wife were getting ready to celebrate their wedding anniversary when the bombshell landed. A hand-delivered letter to their home in Penrith, from the owner of a factory on the outskirts of town, accusing him of defamation, harassment and malicious communications.<\/p>\n Thomson, 75, had been running a campaign to try to tackle what local people call the Penrith Pong. The problem goes back decades. Some days the smell \u2013 which Thomson describes as \u201cnauseating\u201d \u2013 is so bad residents have to shut their windows. They cannot sit in the garden, or hang washing outside. Drivers on the M6 have reported bad odours wafting across the motorway.<\/p>\n <\/span>Jeff Thomson, founder of the Fresh Air for Penrith campaign.<\/span> Photograph: Jeff Thomson<\/p>\n The letter delivered to Thomson <\/strong>was from solicitors acting for Leo Group, the owner of Omega Proteins, which operates a rendering plant less than a mile from Thomson\u2019s home processing waste from abattoirs into oils for cosmetics and feed for animals.<\/p>\n The letter demanded the removal of posts on Thomson\u2019s Fresh Air for Penrith Facebook page, along with an apology, and the company has asked him to pay legal costs and \u00a320,000 in damages.<\/p>\n For Thomson, that first letter in February 2023 was a body blow. \u201cIt was devastating. I had no experience of anything of that scale. How could I defend myself against this? It\u2019s a classic David and Goliath situation.\u201d<\/p>\n He and his wife headed for the pub, where, instead of celebrating, they spent the evening working out how to respond. The next day, Thomson started ringing round looking for a solicitor to represent him. \u201cI got absolutely nowhere. They wouldn\u2019t even speak to me, and I couldn\u2019t afford to pay anybody\u201d.<\/p>\n A former press officer at the Central Office of Information, Thomson moved from Manchester to the edge of the Lake District seven years ago, and lives in a rented retirement apartment. He says he has no assets with which to pay the damages, should he lose the case. For now, his legal fees are taken care of.<\/p>\n He came across the UK Anti-Slapp Coalition, a group backed by charities including Amnesty International and Index on Censorship, and media groups including the Guardian. They put him in touch with a firm of solicitors, RPC, which waived its fee, taking on the case pro-bono. \u201cI don\u2019t know where I\u2019d be if it wasn\u2019t for them,\u201d says Thomson.<\/p>\n Leo Group, a company whose founding family is estimated to be worth \u00a3300m, recently offered to drop the case and pay his legal costs if he agreed not to mention any settlement. He refused, because he did not want to be prevented from discussing the outcome. \u201cI\u2019ve just said no. They would have won.\u201d<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the legal threats have already had a chilling effect. Thomson does not mention the company online any more, and he is careful in interviews and at public meetings. He says he only feels comfortable talking about the company in the context of the threatened lawsuit. \u201cIt was just an attempt to stop me from continuing my campaign. Which is to have the source of the odour identified, acknowledged and action taken to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Some days the smell \u2013 which Thomson describes as \u2018nauseating\u2019 \u2013 is so bad people in Penrith have to shut their windows.<\/span> Photograph: Anthony Brown\/Alamy<\/p>\n Leo Group claims to have spent \u00a3100m over a decade on odour control technology, and that the pong comes from \u201cvarious sources\u201d.<\/p>\n In a statement, the company says: \u201cOver the years, Mr Thomson has made various baseless defamatory comments via his posts on Facebook and he has complained to various authorities in England and Wales against Leo Group. However, Leo Group has not in any way acted contrary to any anti-Slapp legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomson believes the air quality has improved since he began making a noise. With his training as a press officer, he had run an effective campaign, attracting BBC coverage, support from his local MPs and the attention of the Environment Agency.<\/p>\n After a peak in 2024, there have been fewer bad smell days of late. But he fears things could go backwards if he takes his foot off the pedal. \u201cThe pressure has to be kept up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was written in such vicious, aggressive terms,\u201d says Isabel Tucker, of the legal letter she received in March 2024. Tucker had written an article that January for her local news site, complaining about what she saw as the gradual decline in the number of stalls and variety of goods on sale at Gloucester Green outdoor market in central Oxford.<\/p>\n The 13-page letter was from solicitors acting for a company called LSD Promotions, which had operated the market under contract with the council since 2013. They accused her of \u201ca false and malicious campaign of defamation\u201d, which was causing serious harm to LSD\u2019s reputation. Unless she agreed to take down her article, and retract \u201call defamatory statements made whether online, to third parties or anywhere else\u201d, they said they would go to the high court with a claim of libel and harassment.<\/p>\n The letter also alleged she had posted criticism on Facebook under a false name. But Tucker, a freelance copy editor, says she is wary of social media in general and does not have an account on Facebook.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is a clampdown on freedom of speech,\u201d she says. \u201cThey claim it\u2019s a campaign of malicious defamation. To my mind, it\u2019s just a campaign. You\u2019re allowed to criticise things!\u201d<\/p>\n She began raising concerns with the council in 2022, after the pandemic, when traders told her about increases in pitch fees. She found out the contract was due to be renewed, and using a freedom of information request secured a copy of the old contract. She spoke at a council meeting, and the council took steps to supervise LSD\u2019s work more closely under the new contract.<\/p>\n <\/span>Gloucester Green market in Oxford. Tucker began raising concerns with the council in 2022 when traders told her about increases in pitch fees.<\/span> Photograph: Michael Foley\/Alamy<\/p>\n When the letter threatening legal action arrived in March, a friend put her in touch with a solicitor, who for no charge helped her draft a response. Since then, she has had to reply to a second letter, this time with help from RPC, after contacting the UK Anti-Slapp Coalition. In September, the coalition wrote to the council, warning it the threats made by LSD \u201cbore the hallmarks of a Slapp\u201d.<\/p>\n Nik Williams, the coalition\u2019s co-chair, believes people like Tucker should be encouraged, not muzzled: \u201cIt\u2019s the sort of active citizenship that you should be wanting to foster. Someone who uses a service and is taking steps to improve it.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement, LSD said it had made repeated attempts to meet Tucker to discuss her concerns and seek resolution, but that she had declined. It said the legal correspondence was a \u201clast resort\u201d, and that no legal proceedings were issued once the matter \u201cde-escalated\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cLSD Promotions rejects any suggestion that its actions were intended to suppress legitimate public scrutiny or freedom of expression. We believe our response was proportionate, lawful and consistent with the legitimate protection of our business interests.\u201d<\/p>\n Tucker says people who criticise businesses are under no obligation to meet them, and this should not be a trigger for legal threats. She believes her work has made a difference. \u201cThe market is getting slightly better actually and I take some credit for that,\u201d she says. But fear of being sued has made her less vocal. For example, she no longer sets out a stall at community fairs to publicise her campaign. \u201cI\u2019ve been very careful since then. I\u2019ve felt quite cautious about what I say about the market\u201d.<\/p>\n Six years on from the legal attack against her, Verity Nevitt is back at university, determined to get the education she had to abandon. This time, she is studying law instead of politics. But she also has a day job, working for a national charity, and has to fit homework into evenings and weekends. \u201cIt\u2019s a clear reminder that the case is still affecting me now.\u201d<\/p>\n For most of the high court case, they had no lawyers. Lucy was going to the high court to file documents during her lunch breaks. She too was forced to pause her studies, although she returned to them eventually and completed a master\u2019s in psychology and neuroscience.<\/p>\n The sisters eventually found solicitors willing to work for a reduced fee, and a barrister who took on their case on a no-win, no-fee basis.<\/p>\n In court, they waived their right to anonymity so they could talk about what had happened, and set up their campaign group.<\/p>\n <\/span>Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in a US court in May 2022.<\/span> Photograph: AP<\/p>\n Through their work at Gemini, the twins have supported other women. They noticed an increase in those coming to them about legal threats in the wake of Depp v Heard, a case that made headlines around the world when the actor Johnny Depp accused his former wife Amber Heard of defamation.<\/p>\n The London barrister Jennifer Robinson, who represented Heard during Depp\u2019s UK libel case against the Sun, has written of how the courts became weaponised in the wake of the #MeToo movement by those determined \u201cto silence women and maintain the status quo\u201d. Depp won his US case against Heard but lost the British one against the Sun.<\/p>\n Nevitt, who is engaged to be married, plans to take her husband\u2019s name so that she can recover some privacy. She turns 30 next year, and had been planning to wind down the campaigning, going out on the high of having secured more legal safeguards. Downing Street\u2019s decision has forced a rethink.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope has always been that my 30s will be for me. But I\u2019m not sure I can stop until a piece of anti-Slapp legislation is passed because it might feel like everything was for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Verity Nevitt was just 21, a student living away from home for the first time, when she learned she and her twin sister, Lucy, were going to be sued in the high court. Someone knocked on the door of her London house share with a big bundle of papers and asked her to sign for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[1185,999,335,5874,19297,24477,20342,1053],"class_list":{"0":"post-49261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-campaigners","9":"tag-david","10":"tag-feel","11":"tag-freedom","12":"tag-goliath","13":"tag-silenced","14":"tag-slapps","15":"tag-speech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The pensioner<\/h2>\n
The shopper<\/h2>\n
The sisters<\/h2>\n