A defendant in a defamation proceeding may direct a defence of honest opinion to an imputation that differs from the plaintiff's pleaded imputation, provided the defendant's imputation is not substantially different from the plaintiff's imputation when considered in the context of the publication, and does not raise a 'false issue'. The two imputations must be assessed in the context of the article from which they derive, not in isolation. Whether a contextual imputation is capable of being more serious than the plaintiff's imputation, and whether particulars support it, are quintessentially questions for the jury.
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