Jones wins $104,000 defamation award

ROBERT KITCHIN/The Dominion Post

A SORRY TALE: Sir Robert says an apology would have made the defamation case go away. "As far as I'm concerned, he got away lightly."

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Property magnate Sir Robert Jones has won a $104,000 defamation award from Kapiti Coast investment adviser Chris Lee.

Sir Robert says he expects the full cost to Mr Lee will be "circa half a mill" by the time he pays the award and the legal costs of both sides.

"As far as I'm concerned, he got away lightly," Sir Robert said.

He had claimed up to about $800,000.

"I don't enjoy this stuff but I'm not afraid of it. I'm buggered if I will turn the other cheek."

A jury in the High Court at Wellington took 5 1/2 hours to decide that comments Mr Lee made in an online newsletter and in City Life community newspaper in 2007 were defamatory.

Sir Robert praised the jury's commonsense. He did not sue the newspaper.

Mr Lee had written about the management fee Robert Jones Holdings charged under a contract with Robert Jones Investments.

The contract was cancelled in 1990 at a cost to RJI of $75 million, although there was a dispute about whether Sir Robert took the money in shares or cash.

Mr Lee was wrong in saying the fee was calculated as 8 per cent of the gross assets. It was in fact 8 per cent of gross income, but Mr Lee did not apologise because he said he did not believe that what he said was defamatory.

"All he had to do was apologise," Sir Robert said while celebrating the victory last night.

People were entitled to abuse him but Mr Lee had said outrageously wrong things about him.

Mr Lee should be held accountable for the quality of the investment advice he gave, Sir Robert said, adding that he intended looking at this in future.

Mr Lee said he accepted the jury's verdict.

In a prepared statement he said it was not the result he wanted. "I have paid the penalty. No morning tea for the staff on Monday."

The positives he took from the experience were that he spent so much time reading about the law that he had skipped some meals, and that had pleased both his wife and his tailor.

He also had excellent research for when he writes a book. "There is no such thing as a wasted experience."

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