Former SAS corporal Ben Roberts-Smith has lost his defamation case against Nine-owned Fairfax, with a judge finding Thursday it was true that Australia’s most decorated soldier committed civilian murders in Afghanistan.
Accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann has discontinued his case alleging News Corp and journalist Samantha Maiden defamed him with the publication of two articles on the alleged assault of Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.
The judge overseeing defamation cases brought by accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will deliver his long-awaited findings next week, ruling on whether allegations of civilian murder in Afghanistan against the country’s most decorated living soldier are substantially true.
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has accused the Australian Broadcasting Corporation of a “contemptuous attempt” to prejudice the jury in a criminal trial over his alleged rape of former colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House.
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has filed defamation proceedings against the ABC, the third such lawsuit he has brought after suing Ten and a News Corp Unit over publications airing the rape allegations of his former colleague Brittany Higgins.
Erin Molan will receive zero damages under a settlement reached with the Daily Mail, after the Full Federal Court set aside a $150,000 defamation judgment for the sports presenter and sent the case back for a new trial.
A judge has rejected a bid by The Project presenter Lisa Wilkinson to discover a 39,000-page AFP report outlining the contents of accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann’s phone, calling it “a classic fishing expedition.”
The Full Federal Court has set aside a $150,000 defamation judgment for sports presenter Erin Molan and remitted the matter for a new trial, after finding a judge failed to properly consider publisher the Daily Mail’s defence of contextual truth.
The Daily Mail has argued that Nine sports presenter Erin Molan should be stripped of a $150,000 defamation damages award because of her history of “seriously egregious conduct” on 2GB’s Continuous Call Team radio show.
From the ongoing saga of the high-profile Christian Porter action against the ABC to “backyard” litigation testing the serious harm bar, defamation cases made headlines in 2022, with winners and losers alike shelling out millions to lawyers to protect their reputations.