Journalist was badly advised, Waters tells defamation trial

'Irish Times' reporter Kitty Holland is suing John Waters for up to €75,000 damages for defamation of character

John Waters  was giving evidence in his defence against a €75,000 defamation of character claim by Kitty Holland. File Picture: Julien Behal/PA

John Waters described Kitty Holland in court as a very good reporter who he claimed had received poor leadership and had been badly advised by her then Irish Times editor following a tip-off about the untimely death of Indian woman Savita Halappanavar in University Hospital Galway.

He told his counsel Feargal Kavanagh he found it baffling to hear former Irish Times editor Kevin O’Sullivan state in video evidence to the court that 12 years after he published Holland’s story he felt he and the Irish Times had been vindicated in breaking what they knew about the tragic event at the time.