In a s 7A defamation trial, counsel's address to the jury on the public interest nature of a broadcast must not conflate the public interest defence (a matter for the judge at a later stage) with the question of whether imputations are conveyed. A broadcast that makes specific factual allegations of fraud and misconduct conveys those imputations even if it also calls for an investigation. Where the only conclusion open is that imputations are defamatory, the Court of Appeal may enter verdicts on that question under s 75A(10) even though the jury did not consider it.
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