A three-day libel trial over a Twitter spat involving two law lecturers has opened in London. 

James Wilson, a law lecturer and non-practising solicitor, told the court he ‘never believed for a moment’ his claim would ‘end up in a High Court trial’.

The claim centres on a Facebook post originally published in 2018 which included a photo of Wilson. It was republished in 2020 as part of a Twitter, now X, thread.

A previous judgment in James Wilson v James Mendelsohn & Anor said the thread concerned antisemitism, the state of Israel and criticism of Israel by the left. The thread began with a ‘quote tweet’. Wilson entered the conversation with a comment and a link to an article.

Wilson has now brought a defamation claim against James Mendelsohn, a law lecturer, and Edward Cantor, a former restaurateur, over the  thread.

During Wilson's cross-examination, he said he never expected the case to come to court.  ‘I imagined when I sent the letter before action…I imagined they would not publish [the social media post] again and that would be the end of the matter. If I thought for a moment I would spend tens of thousands on pounds in litigation, it is bizarre.’

The court heard the Facebook post was as a result of a interaction between Wilson and a driver over their car idling outside a school after Wilson asked the driver to turn off the engine. The post included Wilson’s photo and described him as a ‘weirdo and a freak’. Wilson said he did not accept those words as a description for his actions.

The trial before His Honour Judge Parkes continues.