Rothe v Scott (No. 4) [2016] NSWDC 160

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Rothe v Scott (No. 4) [2016] NSWDC 160 Hearing dates: 1 and 2 August 2016 Date of orders: 05 August 2016 Decision date: 05 August 2016 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiff against the defendant for $150,000. (2) Plaintiff's written submissions on interest and costs in 7 days. (3) Defendant's written submissions on interest and costs in 14 days. (4) Proceedings listed for further directions on matters of interest and costs on Thursday 1 September 2016 at 9:00am. (5) Liberty to apply in relation to interest and costs. (6) Exhibits retained for 28 days. Catchwords: TORT – defamation – defendant publishes Facebook post headed "Pedophile [sic] warning" naming the three motels owned and operated by the plaintiff in a small country town as being used to relocate paedophiles – plaintiff not named - whether plaintiff identified – whether imputations conveyed – extent of publication – defences of qualified privilege, honest opinion and triviality – damages –aggravated compensatory damages – judgment for $150,000 Legislation Cited: Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW) Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), ss 30, 31, 33, 34 and 38 Cases Cited: Cerutti v Crestside Pty Ltd [2014] QCA 33 Channel Seven Sydney Pty Limited v Parras [2002] NSWCA 202 Cole Myer Ltd v Webster; Coles Myer Ltd v Thompson [2009] NSWCA 299 French v Fraser (No 3) [2015] NSWSC 1807 Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1997) 189 CLR 520 Mickle v Farley [2013] NSWDC 295 North Coast Children's Home Inc. trading as Child & Adolescent Specialist Programs & Accommodation (CASPA) v Martin [2014] NSWDC 125 Nowak v Putland [2011] QDC 259 Parras v Channel Seven Sydney Pty Limited (Supreme Court of New South Wales, Simpson J, 14 September 2001) Pedavoli v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd [2014] NSWSC 1674 RJ v JC [2008] NSWDC 217 Rothe v Scott [2015] NSWDC 105 Rothe v Scott (No. 2) [2015] NSWDC 143 Rothe v Scott (No. 3) [2016] NSWDC 151 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Plaintiff: Kenneth Rothe Defendant: David Scott Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: Mr C J Dibb Defendant: Mr D Scott (in person)