NCC’s Rob Cotton sues over tweets
ROB Cotton, the chief executive of Manchester-based IT security business NCC Group, has taken legal action against headhunter Gary Chaplin over allegations he made on Twitter.
Mr Cotton, a keen cyclist, hired lawyers at Brabners in Manchester after discovering Mr Chaplin had used Twitter to claim he had hit a cyclist in his car and driven off.
Following an out of court settlement Mr Chaplin published an apology on his blog, agreed to contribute towards Mr Cotton’s legal costs and make a charity donation.
Under the heading ‘Apology to Mr Rob Cotton’ he wrote: “On 28 May 2013 I published a message on twitter and elsewhere which alleged that Mr Rob Cotton’s vehicle had been involved in an accident; and that he had knocked a cyclist from a bike and left the scene. I accept that these allegations: (i) are entirely untrue, (ii) are without foundation, and (iii) ought not to have been published.
“I wish to offer my sincere apologies to Mr Cotton for any damage caused by the message. At Mr Cotton’s request, I have agreed to make a considerable donation to Mr Cotton’s On the Road to Recovery Charity cycle ride for The Christie charity that he is involved with, as well as a substantial contribution towards his costs.”
Mr Cotton, who was out of the country at the time, told TheBusinessDesk.com that he was “astounded and deeply upset” when he found out.
“I have no idea why he did it. I responded straight away and said you’ve put something libellous up there. I thought he would say sorry and take it down but he didn’t so I hired Brabners and they wrote to him explaining it was defamatory.”
He added: “It was never about the money. Reputation and integrity are hard won, they’re the only things as a business person you have.”
Mr Chaplin runs his own executive search business. Two years ago he was forced to leave his job at Stark Brooks in Manchester after sending an expletive-laden email that went viral. He referred TheBusinessDesk.com to his lawyer Steve Kuncewicz, head of intellectual property and media at Bermans in Manchester.
He said: “Gary took prompt action to resolve this dispute on commercial terms and without admission of liability by providing an apology. The lesson to social media users following this case is that, whatever the intention behind your statements may be, intention is mostly irrelevant in defamation law and they may still be subject to legal proceedings should another party be motivated to take action.”
