A Sydney barrister has won a defamation case against Nine Network over stories about an ownership dispute, involving an Instagram famous Cavoodle. Gina Edwards was awarded $150,000 in damages after a court found she was wrongly portrayed as a thief who stole the dog for her own financial benefit.
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00:00Dressed for the occasion. He may not be a KC or an SC, but most thought he was a QT.
00:09Oscar the Cavoodle arrived at the federal court with his owner, Barrister Gina Edwards,
00:14for decision day in a defamation battle against NINE.
00:17Justice has been done. I'm very grateful to the court.
00:21And now I can move on with helping people as a barrister, which is all I ever wanted.
00:27She sued the broadcaster and journalist Steve Marshall over two current affair broadcasts and online articles.
00:34They covered an ownership dispute between Ms Edwards and former friend Mark Gillespie.
00:39The judge found NINE falsely implied Ms Edwards stole Oscar and did so for her own financial benefit.
00:46He said the two broadcasts mostly sided with Mr Gillespie and were sensationalist, if not hyperbolic.
00:53The broadcasts and the articles portrayed Ms Edwards in a most unfavourable light.
00:58A civil case about the disputed ownership ended in November 2021, when Ms Edwards was declared Oscar's owner.
01:06The judge today found the broadcaster had failed to show the imputations were substantially true
01:11and awarded $150,000 in damages. Ms Edwards previously tried to settle the case for $40,000.
01:19I'm very grateful, very grateful to the court and for all the love and support that we've had.
01:24And now we can get back to enjoying the parks and our lives.
01:29The end of a long and complex tale.