Judy Davis wins defamation over News Ltd

Judy Davis has won a defamation case against News Limited publications over an article on her attitude towards a proposal to upgrade lighting at a sports oval in Sydney’s Birchgrove.

The judge says she should be awarded $140,000 in damages for the articles published in the Daily Telegraph, the Courier-Mail, the Sunday Mail and the Perth Sunday Times in February 2006.

Justice Peter McClellan said he would not enter a judgement immediately, because he wanted to allow parties to decide on what Ms Davis was entitled to in terms of interest and costs.

Justice McClelland said the jury had found that defamatory imputations had been conveyed, one being that she had acted in “an unreasonable and selfish manner” in opposing developments at Birchgrove Oval, which were designed to protect children from physical injury.

A second imputation was that she was “a heartless person” in being “indifferent to the risk of injury to hundreds of young children due to poor lighting at Birchgrove Oval”.

Justice McClellan found Ms Davis, an actress of international reputation, with two Academy Award nominations to her credit, had been “a convincing witness” when she gave evidence of the harm that had been caused to her by the publications. He had “no hesitation” in accepting her evidence.

“The plaintiff said that she was distressed by the publication and was ‘dumbfounded’ as to why the Daily Telegraph would have ‘done that to’ her,” he said. “She became particularly upset when she realised that the publication might have an effect on her daughter, Charlotte, who plays soccer at Birchgrove Oval.

“I have no doubt that her reputation as an actor ensured that many people who may not otherwise have notices the stories, either read them or became aware of parts of them,” he said. Such publications would “inevitably diminish her reputation in the eyes of many people”.

In today’s report by the Daily Telegraph, the newspaper added, “Whilst Nationwide News had used “extravagant and sensational” language to attack Davis, the judge rejected her claim that the media outlet was running a campaign against her.”

Source: The Age