A further distinction without a difference is the suggestion that in speaking with Black Ford was merely "reliving the moment" when he confronted Dale and expressing what he was thinking at the time. The facts as found by the police don't support Ford in his belief that Dale had taken any photos of Ford's children, so it was not a reasonable belief to being with.
It is hard to see how it is any better for a slander action for Ford to say that it was at the time of the confrontation he thought Dale was a pedophile, and in his interview with Black he was just recalling it without saying he no longer believed it to be true. Ford has never apologised for such a mistaken belief and has now repeated it and says that he stands by it. To say that he was merely repeating what he was thinking at some time in the past doesn't excuse a present slander if he leaves the door open for his audience to think he hasn't changed his mind.
IANAL but I think Dale has damaged his own case by rattling on about it again and again in The Star. WK says it here. Put another way, you either try to win in court, or in the court of public opinion, but not both. Judges don't like you using their courtroom as a means of pursuing your extracurricular activities. Which is to say they just might agree with the Fords that this whole spat is "all about selling newspapers".
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Thanks!
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