The sting or meaning of a plaintiff's pleaded imputation is a question for the judge, not the jury, including on a strike-out application. A justification defence must engage with the unambiguous meaning of the plaintiff's imputation; particulars that address a different sting — even one arguably conveyed by the published matter — are incapable of justifying the imputation and should be struck out. The question whether contextual imputations under s 26(b) of the Defamation Act 2005 should be assessed in aggregate or individually on a strike-out application remains open.
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