A “threatening, overbearing and bullying” High Court judge rendered a libel trial unfair, the Court of Appeal found.

Mr Justice Jay, who rose to prominence in his role as counsel to the Leveson Inquiry, was criticised by three senior judges for his behaviour in overseeing a libel case.

Jan Tomasz Serafin, a 67-year-old Polish émigré, claimed damages for libel regarding a double-page article in Nowy Czas [New Time], a monthly Polish-language magazine popular with the Polish community in London.

However Mr Justice Jay developed an “animus” towards him - frequently interrupting him and accusing him of lying, and as a result treated his case unfairly, according to Court of Appeal Judges.

In "an excoriating judgment" they said: “In our view, the Judge not only seriously transgressed the core principle that a judge remains neutral during the evidence, but he also acted in a manner which was, at times, manifestly unfair and hostile to the Claimant.”