Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Pepe’s Piri Piri v Junaid: Procuring breach of contract established; unlawful means conspiracy and unlawful interference fail—intention to injure and pleading strategy under English tort law

Published on: 06 August 2019

Published by a LexisNexis Dispute Resolution expert

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Article summary

Pepe’s Piri Piri Ltd and another company v Junaid and others [2019] EWHC 2097 (QB) What are the practical implications of this case?

The claim proceeded on three tortious bases:

(a) conspiracy to damage the claimant’s business by unlawful means
(b) unlawful interference with the claimant’s business
(c) procuring breach of contract

Advisers should consider with care how to frame pleadings where several putative defendants appear to have acted together to the claimant’s detriment. At the outset, it can be prudent to advance as many alternative formulations as are properly arguable. Yet, as trial draws near, practitioners ought to confront the disclosure head‑on and decide if it serves their clients’ interests to persist with each strand.

Ultimately, the claimant succeeded on only one tort—procuring breach of contract. That was because, unlike the other two, it does not demand an intention to injure the claimant, but instead requires knowledge of the contract whose breach is induced and an intention to bring about that breach. On the facts of a given case, this may represent a materially lower threshold to meet—and, on a realistic view of the disclosure, if it is considered, in all the circumstances, more than sufficient in law to...

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