h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

John Terry loses the captaincy over allegations of racist abuse (which he denies). Clearly even an allegation is very serious if it can result in such consequences, so is it ever considered to be slanderous to wrongly allege it?

The view from these shoes is - YES

...now prove I'm innocent...

Well, I'd imagine that a maliciously false claim of racial abuse would be slanderous (or libellous, depending). To be wrong or mistaken isn't slanderous.

It's a very difficult one. While the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" is a respected and an important one, I don't think that's the same as saying that no action must or should be taken until proven guilty. For example, a government minister has resigned after being charged with lying about who was driving the family car when it was caught speeding. He denies the charge, but it's right that he should resign. If someone is accused of a serious offence at work, suspension can sometimes be appropriate even before they've been found guilty.

In John Terry's case, it's very difficult to see how someone can be England captain (or arguably, even part of the squad) with criminal charges for racial abuse hanging over his head. He denies the charge, and it's very harsh on him to miss out or be penalised in any way if he's subsequently found not guilty. But what's the alternative?

In his case, there's no question of slander, just of how video footage should be interpreted.

Here's how I guess it would work - I'm not a lawyer.

- if I tell the papers you called your black team mate a racist name, you could have a case for slander, and the onus is on me to prove you did, otherwise I should have to pay you damages.
- if I tell the footballing authorities you called your black team mate a racist name, the onus is on THEM to prove you did, possibly with reference to me, and if it's found you didn't... well, nothing, really.
- if AFTER you've been shown innocent of the specific charge I repeat it, I'm definitely guilty of slander - but if I say you abused a different person on a different occasion, go to bullet point 1 and start again.