Here’s something that might put your life in perspective just a bit.
Rachelle Louise, the girlfriend of convicted killer Simon Gittany, is suing The Daily Mail for defamation, after they called her “the world’s most deluded woman” and referred to her as a “former stripper”.
The Sydney Morning Herald report that Louise is upset about two stories in particular, published in February of this year, in the wake of Gittany’s sentencing for murdering his fiance Lisa Harnum by throwing her off the balcony of a Sydney high rise.
When Louise went to visit her man in Parkview Prison, the Mail published a piece which made reference to “a day in the life of the world’s ‘most deluded’ woman,” and asked “can she REALLY believe balcony killer [Gittany] is innocent?”
Louise, who is represented by defamation barrister Roger Rasmussen, also rejects the Mail‘s classification of her as a “former stripper” and Gittany’s “stripper girlfriend,” reportedly unhappy at the suggestion that she is a “women [sic] of loose morals”.
Earlier this week, district court judge Judith Gibson issued a judgement on preliminary issues, which you can and probably should read here, because it’s riveting stuff.
For instance, as to the question of whether the Mail defamed Louise by calling her a “stripper” or a “former stripper”, Gibson said that the two should be pleaded as alternatives, rather than both being argued at the same time.
“Either the plaintiff is a stripper, or she is a former stripper,” Gibson said. “Is being called a former stripper any less defamatory than being called a stripper?”
Gibson finally said that it will be left up to Louise whether the imputation of “stripper” or “former stripper” should be pleaded first, “and whether one is a fall-back for the other or only an alternative.”
Wow.
While Louise’s lawyer had also argued that The Daily Mail‘s articles convey that she is “stupid”, Judge Gibson disagreed, and after a lengthy musing on the differences between delusion and stupidity, struck the imputation out.
When all was said and done, Judge Gibson ordered Louise to pay The Daily Mail‘s costs for the preliminary hearing. The District Court case will now be heard by a jury.
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