The Witchfinder has received £3,500 in damages, an admission of liability and an apology from Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust on the basis that they revealed to Esther Baker that he had raised confidential safeguarding concerns about her. There is no confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement – I am free to tell all. Meanwhile, Esther Baker has lost her appeal against a finding she harassed a proven victim of child abuse, making racist tweets and apparently contacting the victim’s paedophile abuser – with a view to helping the abuser overturn their conviction.

Sam Smith, the editor of MHN, has received £3,500 damages for the disclosure of confidential information by Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust. Click for full size.

In late 2018, I raised serious concerns about the well-being of Esther Baker. I wrote to her psychiatrist, Dr Kate Wood and to executives at her local NHS Trust.

All of my concerns have been realised – I warned Esther Baker was at risk of large costs Orders in court proceedings she has unwisely brought and defended. The Orders were made. I warned Baker was at risk of bankruptcy. She has been bankrupted. I warned Baker was at risk of her job. She has lost her job. I warned of further civil and criminal legal troubles – they are in process. I warned Baker was a danger to others – the County Court has found her liable for stalking, the High Court for defamation. In both cases lifelong restraining Orders have been made.

Nearly every risk has materialised.

Unfortunately, the Trust failed to keep matters confidential and accidentally disclosed my identity to Baker. I sued, pointing out that it was foreseeable that Baker would harass me given her history and mental health problems. Indeed, since I raised the original concern, Esther Baker has been made subject to a court restraining Order for racist stalking of a vulnerable child abuse victim (whose identity is being kept anonymous by MHN). Last month, she failed in her appeal – High Court Judge Mr Justice Jay upheld the racism finding against her, and held that the lower court judge reviewed the evidence carefully.

Esther Baker’s racism appeal has been rejected. The finding she stalked a proven, real victim of child abuse has been upheld on Appeal. There is a minor typo – the Appellant (being Esther Baker) is a ‘she’. Identifying information redacted, click for full size.

Given that Baker attempted to use the accidentally and wrongfully obtained information against me in court, the Trust had no real option but to admit Breach of Duty. Interestingly, where they disputed my case was that they asserted that, “You clearly have a pre-existing, difficult history with  EB […]”, arguing over causation. Put another way, they argued that if she was stalking me or behaving improperly, she would have done so / was doing so anyway.

Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust have admitted liability. Click for full size.

A settlement was swiftly reached, to reflect the harm to my feelings. Such settlements are tax free, incidentally (Moorthy v Revenue And Customs [2018] EWCA Civ 847).

There are a few obvious consequences here. Firstly, almost everyone who knows of me, knows that although I do not practice as a solicitor I have passed the LL.M LPC (Commendation). I have passed the exams just have not done the training contract to become a solicitor and be admitted to the Roll, in part because it would involve a pay cut. I am the director of a profitable IT firm. Secondly, I have approaching 10 years litigation experience as a McKenzie Friend and have been praised in Parliament and by High Court judges for my legal skills helping the vulnerable against heavy opposition.

What did they think was going to happen?

Baker’s psychiatrist Dr Kate Wood and her Trust (including Interim Medical Director , Dr Arun Chidambaram) need to be aware that there could be more litigation incoming from multiple claimants if they do not take action to protect Baker and the public. There is also likely to be damaging media scrutiny.

Proven stalker Esther Baker has already been handed two restraining Orders. Now she and her friend Dr Jacqui Dillon face more legal proceedings.

Furthermore, Baker and her friends face more litigation. Last week I received an email. Esther Baker’s mentally ill friend Dr Jacqui Dillon, along with Baker herself were in an argument with an anonymous account. After Dillon suggested the online account was me, she made a series of remarks I consider may be defamatory. At its simplest, she wrongly accused me of running the sock-puppet account and dishonestly lying about  it. On Wednesday 4th March 2020 I served draft court proceedings. Both Baker and Dillon have had letters of claim. They have until 5pm on the 18th of March (Wednesday next week) to reply.

Absent an astonishingly good response, they are next. I have also contacted Mohammed Akunjee, a solicitor associated with Dillon. He has described himself as, “Dr Dillon’s solicitor”, but not formally told me he acts for her, and not notified me he has instructions to accept service. I hope that Dillon, Baker and Akunjee take the draft proceedings seriously.

As I said when asked about the incident in comments, “enough is enough”. Like Baker, Dillon hears voices and has unusual beliefs. I will shortly be contacting Hackney NHS (East London NHS Foundation Trust). If they fail to take appropriate action to safeguard Dillon and the public, they may be at risk of being sued. The same goes for Merseycare if they fail to act in a proper manner on further information about Baker’s conduct.

My remark, “enough is enough” goes for police too. Staffordshire Police should remember that several of their officers are now subject to investigation, about which more will be written in forthcoming articles. Officers such as DC Garry Bainbridge and Detective Chief Superintendent Javid Oomer should be careful indeed.

My remark, “enough is enough” goes for journalists who have championed Baker too. David Hencke is no longer an issue as he is subject to a humiliating restraining agreement. However, individuals such as Mark Watts need to be very careful in their coverage. Very careful indeed.

All of Baker’s supporters, and all public officials who deal with her, even tangentially, need to understand that we are all out of humour and patience. If they fail to act properly, John Hemming expects to recover substantial damages and his costs of doing so. Staffordshire Police are also defendants to a more modest claim brought by me – the same applies to my claim, also.

[Edit 11 March 2020 11:39 for clarity]