Tuesday 11 March 2008

Page and Lennon not defamed

At 3:15pm this afternoon the Jury in the case of defamation before the Cairns District Court delivered their verdict.

The four-women jury found in favour of Councillor Freebody and The Cairns Post.

The allegations of defamation were bought by John Page and Greg Lennon, who accused Cairns City Councillor Paul Freebody and The Cairns Post, had defamed them in a letter published in the Cairns Post in October 2004.

It is expected that Page and Lennon will have to pay costs in the case, which could be up to $100,000, including the cost of the jury.

It's a sad day when a decision like this endorses the actions of a City Councillor, supported by the city's newspaper, to write and publish such a letter. It is understandable why Page and Lennon felt hurt and defamed by the letter. However, this jury did not come to that conclusion. The letter was published only a week after the Queensland Racing Tribunal completely vindicated an earlier related charge against the pair.

Let's hope that the good Councillor has learnt that writing such letters against others in the community, is not acceptable nor an appropriate way to convey his opinion, no matter what that opinion is. I somehow doubt he will.

There have been no winners in this case.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

A sad day when a jury finds in favour of Cr Freebody?

Letting your bias shine through....

This is particularly amusing:

"Let's hope that the good Councillor has learnt that writing such letters against others in the community, is not acceptable nor an appropriate way to convey his opinion, no matter what that opinion is."

I guess your blog is exempt from this standard.

Anonymous said...

Cr Freebody may have convinced the 4 jury women but he will not be able to convince the electoral jury that he is a hypocrite.

Tries to tell everyone that he has high moral standards then is closely connected to the horse racing/gambling industry.

Typical of the double standards that is the Unity mantra.

Its time to restore dignity and integrity around the Council table!!!!

Anonymous said...

Your blog entry totally defames Freebody. The jury just found he was not guilty of defamation. Your blog imputes quite clearly that Freebody was guilty of defamation, even though he has been proved innocent.
You will be the next one coughing up $100,000 for defamation if Freebody ever bothers to look at your blog.