UK 00:14 Sunday, 4 October 2026
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On Tuesday evening we reached the £20,000 target for my fundraiser to defend myself against the charges of defamation brought by Neill Ricketts of Versarien (VRS). My heartfelt thanks to all ShareProphets readers and subscribers who have pledged money or expressed their goodwill and support. It has helped sustain me through a difficult and stressful time.
This money will fund my legal team to the first stage of the process, a Hearing on Meaning, at which a judge will look at the ‘ordinary meaning’ of the words used in the comments complained of. The judge will then give an opinion as to whether the comments are defamatory, are out of time (ie the complainant waited too long to launch an action) or are covered by the defence of Honest Opinion.
I obviously hope that the Hearing – scheduled for January – will go in my favour, but we will have to wait and see.
In any case, that is six months away. For now, thank you all again for your generosity and support – it means a huge amount that more than 160 people agree with me enough to put their money where their mouths are.
The fundraiser page is staying up for another 30 days to try and reach the stretch goal of £25,000 – the latest estimate of the maximum capped cost of the Hearing, according to my legal team.
Once again, thank you all so very much. I couldn’t have done it without every one of you.
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