Judgment reserved in libel row between councillors over Del Boy depiction

A High Court judge has this week reserved judgment in a libel case which partly depends on whether it was defamatory for a councillor to label a political rival as Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses, it has been reported.

According to Wales Online, Cllr Neil McEvoy, leader of the Plaid Cymru group on Cardiff council, brought the case against Cllr Michael Michael, a Labour member who chairs the planning committee.

At issue was a leaflet distributed in Fairwater that included a cartoon of Del Boy with Cllr McEvoy’s face superimposed on it.

According to the report, David Hughes, Cllr McEvoy’s barrister, said: “We all know who Del Boy is. He’s not to be trusted. He’s a rogue. Which of us would like to be compared to Del Boy?”

Hugh Tomlinson QC of Matrix Chambers, Cllr Michael’s barrister, argued that the comparison between Del Boy and Clr McEvoy would not be taken literally by readers of the leaflet. “Suggesting that Cllr McEvoy is like Del Boy Trotter because he is a roguish character and a fantasist is obviously a comment rather than a statement of fact and can’t be read in any other way,” he said.