Cavan (Respondent) v Bunting (Appellant)

Permission to Appeal application lodged

Case summary
Permission to Appeal
Previous proceedings

Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2026/0058

Parties

Appellant(s)

Jolene Bunting

Respondent(s)

Matthew Cavan

Issue

(1) Did the appellant’s conduct amount to harassment for the purposes of the Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997? (2) Was the trial judge correct to grant an injunction in the terms ordered?

Facts

Mr Cavan, is a drag queen whose stage name is Cherrie Ontop. Ms Bunting is a public representative and critic of events which involve drag queens reading stories to children. On 31 July 2022, Mr Cavan was working at an event at Metropolitan Arts Centre in Belfast at which drag queens read stories to children. Ms Bunting protested at the event and, in the days following, published a number of posts online criticising the nature of the events. On 9 August 2022, Mr Cavan sought an injunction under the Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 to restrain Ms Bunting from harassing him. Mr Cavan was granted an ex-parte injunction. Following trial, the judge found Ms Bunting had harassed Mr Cavan and granted Mr Cavan an injunction for a period of five years. On Ms Bunting’s request, the trial judge stated two questions for the opinion of the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland. In a judgment dated 19 December 2025, the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland held that Ms Bunting’s conduct was sufficiently serious, targets and oppressive to constitute harassment, and that the injunction was a proportionate restriction on Ms Bunting’s Article 10 rights in order to protect Mr Cavan’s reputation. Ms Bunting now appeals to the Supreme Court.