£400 Damages The sum of £400 damages was awarded in the King's Bench Di sion recently to the Marstrand Fishing Company, Ltd., and its directors, wha owned the fishing vessel: Girl Pat which set out from. Grimsby and, instead of fishing in the North Sea -went -across the- Atlantic; states the "Manchester Guardian."
They "sted "Hutchinson and. Ca. (Publishers), Ltd. and Anchor Pre: Ltd, püblishers and printers respec tively of a book entitled "The Voyage of the Girl Pat," which, it was alleged; contained. libéllóus passages.
The defendants denied that the book contained any reflection or attack on the plaintiffs and contended that it merely described the Atlantic voyage of the Girl Pat which was clearly unauthorized by the owners.
. Sir Patrick Hastings, K.C.. for the plaintiffs, in his opening statement read passages in the book referring to the amount of food on board, the-winch, and.other matters.
Mr. John Morris K. for the defendants, said, that. nothing in the book fetorred to the Marstrand company or its directors.
Mr. Justice Hawke, in his summing-up; paid a' tribute to North Sea fishermen. "These little vessels," he said, "are meant to face heavy weather, and throughout the- years of the war we could not but feel grateful to the brave men who went out in them in all sorts of weather and conditions.
"The Girl Pat's remarkable v age to America has got -very little io do with this case... If the pas-ages. complained of. mean that the owners of the Girl: Pat sent out to sea a vessel improperly found for an intended voyage, the. defendants did not pretend to say that that was true. Their case is that the book referred only to the voyage from Dover."
Judgment was entered with costs, a stay of execution being refused. aA
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.