Pair face defamation claim after online attack

TWO vocal Westland District Council critics are subject to a claim of defamation following an online attack against chief executive Simon Bastion.

The claim relates to comments allegedly made on Facebook about Mr Bastion.

A letter sent to both Anthea Keenan and Geoffrey King this week by council law firm Lane Neave says it has been instructed to file defamation proceedings in the High Court at Christchurch.

‘‘I won’t be commenting on anything that’s judicial before the courts,’’ Mayor Bruce Smith said.

However, he did say protecting the integrity of staff was ‘‘paramount’’.

‘‘Simon Bastion as the chief executive is the only person employed by council and we take any attacks on his integrity and ethical position very seriously.’’

It is understood Mrs Keenan and Mr King were initially written to and asked to remove the comments and apologise.

Mrs Keenan said the ‘‘offending post’’ was a remark by Mr King which someone had taken a screenshot of while she was ‘‘tucked well into bed’’.

‘‘But I must have deleted [it] in the morning as it is not there.

‘‘I’m not paying CEO Bastion’s $1500 legal costs as he has applied.’’

Mrs Keenan said she would counterclaim the allegations.

The law firm’s letter also seeks to stop Mrs Keenan or Mr King from visiting its Christchurch office without an appointment.

‘‘We do not agree to you attending our offices to hand documents to staff members without warning and without an appointment. We have a PO box available and also communicate by email. That said, we do not intend to debate the merit of your position in this matter via ongoing correspondence.

‘‘To the extent a response is required to the material you have recently sent us, the allegations contained therein are denied by our clients.’’

The allegations cannot be divulged by the Guardian for legal reasons. — Hokitika Guardian