Parish clerk wins £20k over councillor's finger

A PARISH councillor who accused a village clerk of secretly giving him “the finger” during a meeting has been handed a £20,000 libel bill.

- By Paul Keogh

Councillor Andrew Peake, 60, was sued by Dr James Miller, the clerk of his local council, after a campaign of online abuse.

Dr Miller, 60, had been branded a “dishonest, scheming, devious and threatening liar”, a court heard.

The pair were both stalwarts of the parish council in Fleggburgh, a village in the Norfolk countryside.

Mr Peake insisted claims he made on his “Fleggburgh Eye” Facebook page about Dr Miller - a Cambridge-educated academic — were truthful, accusing him among other things of secretly giving him “the finger” during a meeting.

But he has now been ordered to pay £20,000 in libel damages to Dr Miller after being sued at the High Court.

Allegations

Judge Richard Parkes KC found he had not proven any of his defamatory online statements were true.