Not a direct criminal slander (10)
I believe the answer is:
detraction
'slander' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'not a direct criminal' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates anagramming the letters.
'not'+'a'+'direct'='notadirect'
'notadirect' with letters rearranged gives 'DETRACTION'.
(Other definitions for detraction that I've seen before include "Slander" , "Disparagement" .)