The author of MHN from time to time assists charitably as a pro-bono McKenzie Friend and lay advisor. My client Daniel Garland of Phoxjaw and his band were removed from the 2000 Trees Festival last year after allegations of rape, which he denies, were posted on Facebook. The Festival and Danny have now reached a satisfactory settlement. 2000 Trees have issued a statement in which they apologise, retract any suggestion whatsoever that he is guilty and confirm that they have paid a, “substantial sum” in damages. Danny was assisted by myself and also barrister David Hirst of 5RB Barristers (Media and Communications Specialists), who offered a second opinion on merits and quantum. Under these circumstances, my client has achieved all his objectives in the dispute with the festival. Anyone else repeating the allegations is at serious risk of losing everything they own.

2000 Trees have apologised, retracted and say they have paid Daniel Garland of Phoxjaw a, “substantial sum” in damages, over sex crime allegations.

In the meantime, Aaron Britton of the band Knives and horrifyingly bad poet Georgina Middleton have failed to provide substantive responses to the letter of claim sent to them. Georgina claims she has changed her name by deed poll but refuses to provide proof. Aaron claims to not have a fixed address. The Witchfinder considers these decisions imprudent. Acting like children will not make the lawsuit go away.

Speaking of ‘acting like children’, your author and other volunteers have been spending time this evening identifying fools on Facebook who repeat the allegations without the slightest interest in the truth. There is compelling evidence in Daniel’s favour. The individual who accused Daniel said he followed her for two weeks, then one evening followed her to her tent, held her down and raped her.

But Daniel still has their social media messages, which show that what actually happened was that he ignored her for a week, she initiated contact and asked to meet in messages beginning, “Hey friend”, she chased to meet all night and hours after the alleged rape she messaged Daniel apologising for over-sharing. In short, the allegations directly contradict contemporary documents.

At the risk of stating the obvious, I would not willingly waste my time helping a rapist and neither would David Hirst of 5RB. The evidence is compelling.