The respondent, Mr Robert McBride, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for a 1986 car bomb attack outside Magoo's Bar and Why Not Restaurant on the Durban beachfront, carried out as part of the anti-apartheid struggle, which killed three women and injured 69 others. He was released in 1992 and granted amnesty under the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act in 2001. In 2003, when Mr McBride was a candidate for head of Ekurhuleni Metro Police, The Citizen newspaper published a series of articles and editorials opposing his appointment, describing him as a "criminal" and "murderer", alleging he lacked contrition, and claiming he had "dubious flirtation with alleged gun dealers in Mozambique". Mr McBride sued for defamation, seeking R3.6 million in damages. The High Court awarded him R200,000. The Supreme Court of Appeal reduced this to R150,000. The Citizen and the journalists applied for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court, and Mr McBride sought leave to cross-appeal on the reduction of damages.