Morgan v Oldham Press [1971] 2 All ER 1156

House of Lords 
Facts: C sheltered X in his home to protect her from a dog-doping gang. Oldham Press published an article showing X’s picture. The Sun later published a second article suggesting that X had been kidnapped for six days, although she had been in C’s custody. C sued for defamation, claiming the article referred to him. 

Issue: How do you satisfy the requirement of reference to C in defamation cases? 

Held : there was sufficient evidence for the matter to go to a civil jury. in determining the impression that would be left on the mind of the reader regard should be had to the character of the article and the class of reader likely to read it.

• Lord Reid : The words were clearly defamatory, but the question was whether they could be understood as referring to C. Even if the public at large does not recognize the reference, people with special knowledge may connect the statement with C. The publisher's intent or knowledge is irrelevant; what matters is whether an ordinary person with special knowledge would understand the words as referring to C. 

• Lord Morris: The judge must first decide whether the words are capable of being defamatory and then whether the jury could reasonably understand them as referring to the plaintiff, even if the readers did not believe the allegations. 

• Lord Guest: The question is one of identity: “Are the words capable of being understood to refer to the appellant?” Pure speculation is insufficient; there must be rational grounds for believing that the words refer to the plaintiff.