advice needed, can a previous employer give a untrue and misleading reference to a new employer out of spite 
As far as I know you cannot give a bad reference, if you can’t give a good reference you should just respond with “I confirm that X worked here from date to date”
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I don’t think you can give a bad reference but you can refuse to give a reference which to me would speak volumes.
harvey69:
advice needed, can a previous employer give a untrue and misleading reference to a new employer out of spite
Not legally no.
An employer CAN give a bad reference but they must be able to back it up with facts, such as absenteeism, current disciplinary record, etc. Hearsay, rumour or unsubstantiated opinion leaves them wide open to litigation.
My last large employer gives out the information of when I worked for them and that i was sacked. Can’t recall if they give the reason why, but normally it’d come up in the interview anyway 
xfmatt:
I don’t think you can give a bad reference but you can refuse to give a reference which to me would speak volumes.
You can give a bad reference but only by stating facts and not opinion.
For example you can say “Fred called in sick on 10 out of the last 15 Monday mornings and had six at fault road traffic accidents in the last 12 months” (assuming those things are true) but you can’t say “Fred is a waste of space who you should not employ”.
Paul