There are discovery snafus and then there are EPIC fuck-ups — this case falls squarely in the later category.
It all started when police in Kent, England, executed a search warrant on the home of Daryll Taylor. They discovered indecent images of children, which led to Taylor’s conviction. However, the incident also spurred a lawsuit by Taylor against police for damage to his door. The Chief Constable of Kent hired the BLM law firm — now a part of the international Biglaw firm Clyde & Co — to defend the claim, and discovery took place before the claim was ultimately dismissed.
During discovery, Taylor was granted access to a file sharing tool, Collaborate. And that’s where the heart of the problem lies — “for technical reasons which are not clear,” Taylor was also granted access to videos of a child in another case which depicted their arrest, search, and interview.
Taylor contacted the law firm about his unexpected access, but when they asked him to delete the materials he downloaded, he responded in “what can fairly be described as somewhat bizarre responses including demands for monetary payment of several thousand pounds.”
The firm obtained a court order to get Taylor to delete the materials he was inadvertently granted access to. But, as reported by RollOnFriday, Taylor’s reaction was positively obstinate.
Taylor ignored court orders to delete the videos and permit IT experts to inspect his devices and when BLM pressed him to comply, he emailed the firm a curt response: “Fuck off and die”.
A second attempt elicited a longer, but no more helpful, reply: “Fuck you, fuck your company, fuck the courts and fuck London I hope you all die Souless [sic] drones Yours sincerely Daryll Taylor”
BLM’s third try earned a one word email: “Die”.
Clyde & Co, which had by that time taken over BLM, fared little better when it took a shot at the problem. “Do not contact me again, and die in the most painful way possible you filthy parasite”, Taylor responded.
Taylor has no-showed for a court hearing on the matter, and was held in contempt. Taylor is due back in court for sentencing.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
