MEDIA

JAIL FOR PETER LLOYD ABC REPORTER

THE journalist Peter Lloyd has lost his job at the ABC after pleading guilty yesterday to three drugs charges, including the possession of "ice". He will spend up to 10 months in a communal cell in Singapore's Changi prison, sleeping on a straw mat on a concrete floor. Lloyd remained composed as the judge, Hamidah Ibrahim, read out the sentence: eight months for possession, the same period for consumption, and two months for possessing drug paraphernalia with traces of the so-called party drug ketamine, also known as "special K".

The eight-month terms will run concurrently and a jail term of less than a year is far better than Lloyd could have expected when he was arrested and charged. Prosecutors told the court Lloyd had paid $S1000 ($1015) for a quantity of methamphetamine, or "ice", the day after he arrived in Singapore for medical treatment in July. A week later, he was arrested. Police searching his hospital room uncovered a small quantity of drugs, as well as glass tubes, stoppers and bottles used to consume ice.

Police arrested Lloyd after an associate, Sani bin Saidi, tipped them off that Lloyd was his supplier. That led to a trafficking charge which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and 15 lashes of a rattan cane under Singapore's tough anti-drugs laws. Lloyd was the ABC's New Delhi correspondent when he was arrested. He had previously been posted in Bangkok for the national broadcaster. During that time, he covered the two Bali bombings, the Aceh tsunami and suicide attacks in Karachi, which led to the illness. "My client is not a drug abuser," his lawyer, Hamidul Haq, said. "The main reason he had endeavoured to have the drugs was to deal with a mental illness."

As a result of the post-traumatic stress disorder, Lloyd was in a "dissociative state" when he took the drugs. "It became a sort of self-medication for him," Mr Haq said. "He was not taking drugs for recreational purposes." The court also heard that Lloyd was desperate to return to Australia to see his two sons. His older boy was suffering from a life-threatening illness and needed the care of his father, Mr Haq said. Lloyd, who emerged as a gay man months before his arrest, was supported by his former wife, Kirsty McIvor, and two friends. Ms McIvor burst into tears when the sentence was read out and Lloyd was handcuffed and taken from the courtroom by prison guards.

Tom Allard, Herald
December 3, 2008

Source: SMH

3.9.2008
JAMIE FAWCETT BANKRUPT AFTER CASE

Costly battle ... Fawcett blames his bankruptcy on his defamation case loss.
THE Sydney paparazzo who lost a public court battle over his pursuit of Nicole Kidman has lost out again - declaring himself bankrupt.

Freelance photographer Jamie Fawcett has confirmed losing a defamation case which called Kidman as a star witness has proved his financial ruin.
With legal bills reportedly in excess of $1.6 million following the judgement against him earlier this year, Fawcett told Confidential yesterday he was formally bankrupted on August 29.

Abandoning plans to appeal the court decision, Fawcett said the case had been "both financially difficult and I didn't want to spend another three years in the legal system."

"(Bankruptcy) is a direct consequence of losing my case and Justice (Carolyn) Simpson's judgement," he said. While a jury found Fawcett had been defamed by a gossip item in The Sun-Herald in January 2005, which implied he was Sydney's "most disliked freelance photographer", the newspaper defended a damages claim on the grounds of truth.

During the explosive hearing in February, Kidman gave evidence she was "really, really scared" when pursued by the photographer. In damning testimony, Kidman said she had crouched down in the back seat during a drive to her parents' Sydney house when her car was being followed by Fawcett.

Ordered to pay the paper's costs of about $800,000, he was also billed $700,000 for his failed defence. It is understood his lawyers are among creditors yet to be fully paid. However, Fawcett said he had "no regrets" and would continue working as a photographer as an "employee of Photo News International". He has previously sold images under the business name Photo News Pty Ltd. When asked how his outstanding debtors would feel about his bankruptcy motion, he said: "It isn't my problem."

Source: Google News

31.5.2008
LITTLEMORE WINS AGAINST CHANNEL 7

MERCEDES CORBY won her defamation case against Channel Seven last night, with a jury finding that 28 defamatory meanings had been conveyed in three Today Tonight programs and a television news story in February last year.

Of the seven defamatory meanings that Channel Seven and its co-defendants sought to defend on the grounds they were true, the jury found that only one - that Ms Corby was guilty of the crime of possessing marijuana - had been established.

As she walked out of the Supreme Court with her lawyers, Ms Corby said: "I am really happy, but I have still got more to do. I am really happy with the outcome thanks to my legal team." Jodie Power, the former best friend of Ms Corby, went out the opposite entrance with Bryan Seymour, the Today Tonight reporter who interviewed her. Clearly distressed, she said: "At least I can walk out of here with my head held high. I did not have to lie about myself. I did not have to invent anything. There were no voodoos for this story." Seymour put his arm round her and said: "It's OK, dear."

Ms Corby, after a brief consultation in chambers with her barrister, Stuart Littlemore, QC, and solicitor, Bill Kalantzis, walked down Martin Place and, seeing Anna Coren, presenter of Today Tonight, giving a live studio telecast of the program that had defamed her, paused to look in.

The defamatory statements by Ms Power followed a falling-out between her and Ms Corby in 2005 after the arrest of Ms Corby's sister Schapelle in Bali in October 2004. Schapelle Corby was charged with trying to smuggle 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Indonesia, an offence that earned her 20 years' imprisonment.

The trial heard evidence that Ms Power, although claiming to want to help in Schapelle Corby's defence, became domineering and gave interviews to magazines such as Woman's Day for money. When Ms Power returned to Bali with presents from Woman's Day readers to give Schapelle Corby, the jailed woman would not see her and Ms Power blamed Mercedes for intervening. The two never spoke again.

The defamation case, before Justice Carolyn Simpson and a jury of four, lasted just over four weeks and was the first held under amended defamation laws. Instead of restricting a jury to deciding whether or not the alleged meanings are conveyed, the jury must now decide whether they are defamatory and whether or not the defence, in this case of truth, is established.

Justice Simpson, who appeared irked at times because of the antics of a somewhat truculent bar table, thanked the jury of three men and a woman for their attention and said they were "trailblazers" for the new legislation.
Ms Power said or implied on the Today Tonight programs that Mercedes Corby had: asked her to smuggle drugs into Bali; confessed to her that she had smuggled marijuana herself; had cultivated, sold, supplied and possessed marijuana; and had lied to the public about her family's involvement in drugs.

She also said or implied that Mercedes had been knowingly involved in her sister Schapelle's importation of marijuana into Bali.
Ms Power further said or implied that Ms Corby was a threat to her safety, and that she had denied her sister's Indonesian lawyers a chance to prove her innocence.

She said Ms Corby was guilty of the crimes of taking the illicit drugs cocaine, shabu, ecstasy and speed in the five-year period before February 2007, and that she was guilty of the crime of possessing those drugs.
Ms Corby launched defamation proceedings against Seven, the Seven Network, the producers of Sky News, Coren, a Today Tonight reporter, Bryan Seymour, and Ms Power.

Ms Corby, 33, admitted she had smoked marijuana but that was years ago
when she was young and silly and that her marijuana smoking consisted of "a few puffs" - perhaps seven times - and three portions of an ecstasy tablet which added up to just one tablet.

During legal argument, Mr Littlemore conceded that merely to hold marijuana in one's hand amounted, technically, to possession, but did not necessarily amount to possession in any substantial sense. But all other allegations were denied. The proceedings, in which both sides called witnesses, were marked by rigorous cross-examinations by Mr Littlemore and Seven's legal team, which included Tom Hughes, QC, his son Tom Hughes and Kieran Smark, SC.

Justice Simpson, who appeared irked at times because of the antics of a somewhat truculent bar table, thanked the jury of three men and a woman for their attention and said they were "trailblazers" for the new legislation.
Ms Power said or implied on the Today Tonight programs that Mercedes Corby had: asked her to smuggle drugs into Bali; confessed to her that she had smuggled marijuana herself; had cultivated, sold, supplied and possessed marijuana; and had lied to the public about her family's involvement in drugs.

She also said or implied that Mercedes had been knowingly involved in her sister Schapelle's importation of marijuana into Bali. Ms Power further said or implied that Ms Corby was a threat to her safety, and that she had denied her sister's Indonesian lawyers a chance to prove her innocence.

She said Ms Corby was guilty of the crimes of taking the illicit drugs cocaine, shabu, ecstasy and speed in the five-year period before February 2007, and that she was guilty of the crime of possessing those drugs.
Ms Corby launched defamation proceedings against Seven, the Seven Network, the producers of Sky News, Coren, a Today Tonight reporter, Bryan Seymour, and Ms Power.

Ms Corby, 33, admitted she had smoked marijuana but that was years ago when she was young and silly and that her marijuana smoking consisted of "a few puffs" - perhaps seven times - and three portions of an ecstasy tablet which added up to just one tablet.

Source: Brisbane Times (Malcolm Brown)

Angry Nine boss David Gyngell informed Mix 106.5 on Friday that his network would no longer advertise on the station after McKenney repeatedly took the mickey out of Nine's 6pm Sydney newsreader Mark Ferguson.

McKenney, a judge on Channel7's Dancing With The Stars, performed comedy skits on his breakfast radio show on Mix 106.5, lambasting Ferguson's visits to western Sydney schools.

He hosts the radio show with Dancing With The Stars co-host Sonia Kruger.

Ferguson often visits schools and Nine shows film of the visits at the end of news bulletins.

Last weekend, as revealed in The Sunday Telegraph, McKenney was charged with drug possession after being found unconscious in a Rushcutters Bay park at 3.30pm on Anzac Day.

Ambulance officers revived him, saving his life, but police are said to have found the date rape drug, GHB, on him. Before he collapsed, he was seen head-butting a fence.

"After the week he's had, you might have thought Todd McKenney had better things to do than criticise his Channel 7 opposition for sending its newsreader on a visit to a needy western Sydney school,'' Gyngell said yesterday.

"We're anything but precious at Nine - far from it. We are criticised far and wide for all manner of things and most of it is fair game and sometimes we deserve it. We ruffle a few feathers and you've got to be prepared to cop it.

"But this is different. Here's Todd McKenney, with a few much-publicised problems of his own, going out of his way to bag Nine repeatedly. What's to criticise - whether masqueraded as humour or not - about a dedicated program designed to assist kids at an unfashionable outer western suburbs primary school?''

Nine's association with the school Ferguson visited last week - Curran Public School, at Macquarie Fields - started with a news story on the school's chronic truancy problem two years ago and involves Nine arranging school excursions, Christmas parties and other projects.

"It's a worthwhile and decent thing we're doing and it's way beyond petty criticism from Todd McKenney. You really have to wonder about his motives,'' Gyngell said.

"We'll place our money with a radio station who can discern between what's obviously fair game ... and what's not.''

McKenney's agent also explained a theatrical performance in Adelaide last Thursday, in which McKenney pretended to collapse on stage, while rehearsing in front of thousands of school children.

The performer was mid-song in a dress rehearsal for the South Australian Police Tattoo when he dropped to the ground.

McKenney, reprising his role as Peter Allen and singing I Go To Rio, announced he was fatigued and needed to rest.

"I'm feeling tired,'' he said. "I think I might have a lie-down.''

The children laughed and clapped as McKenney collapsed to the ground, then broke into a routine of sit-ups and singing.

The performance was reminiscent of the Rushcutters Bay collapse, but the star's agent, Jane Ambrose, strongly denied that McKenney - who says he was a victim of drink-spiking - was making light of the incident.

"He was just doing what Peter Allen does in that song,'' she said

Source: The Sunday telegraph (Clair Weaver & Kate Kyriacouwn)

A lawyer for Ms Corby told the NSW Supreme Court that Today Tonight had used all the cheap tricks of tabloid journalism in their conspiracy to fabricate lies about her.

On the second day of a defamation battle between Ms Corby, sister of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby, and the Seven Network, counsel representing Ms Corby, Stuart Littlemore said his client was unjustfully subjected to "a trial by media''.

"They conspired to create the most sensational program they could by telling lies,'' Mr Littlemore told the court.

Ms Corby is suing the Seven Network, Today Tonight host Anna Coren, journalists Bryan Seymour and former best friend Jodie Power for defamation over three Today tonight programs and one news segment that aired in February last year and included a paid interview with Ms Power.

The programs are alleged to infer Ms Corby was a drug smuggler with a history of drug use and interfered in her sister's legal battle in Bali.

Mr Llittlemore alleged journalist Mr Seymour, ''put words in her (Jodie Power's) mouth, twisted her words and created a dishonest and untruthful program''.

Mr Littlemore also said Ms Power was a fantasist motivated by ''hatred, money and celebrity'' and that Channel Seven knew all along that Ms Power's allegations were false.

The Seven Network are pleading truth and contextual truth as their defence. The trial is expected to last for more than three weeks.

Ms Corby, Ms Coren and Ms Power were all present at the NSW Supreme Court today.

Source: Lauren Wilson

Former rugby league stars Mark Geyer and Graeme Hughes, ex-jockey Malcolm Johnston, former rugby union star Brett Papworth and former Test cricketer Gavin Robertson are among a host of big names who have lost thousands of dollars.

The afternoon Talkin' Sport show was owned by Dallas Baker and Mike Nui, who bought the airtime from 2SM's Bill Caralis. The pair were declared bankrupt last week, leaving a trail of debts.

One of the stars, who asked not to be named, told us: "They've always been slow payers, but all of a sudden they're declared bankrupt and no-one has been paid.''

Caralis has taken over the running of the show but has given no guarantee about back-paying the money owed. A spokesman said: "It's not Bill that owes the money. He's actually owed money himself and will also be trying to recover the money by whatever ways possible. "He's considering his legal options.''

The tension at 2SM has also created a rift between two of the on-air personalities. Mark Warren, son of Channel Nine's Ray Warren, has left after a blazing row with Talkin' Sport host Graeme Hughes.

Warren hosted a popular boxing show with legendary trainer Johnny Lewis but was recently axed - and he's blaming Hughes for his demise. "I told him he was a low bloke because he's been knifing me to management,'' Warren told us.

Hughes offered: "In respect of Mark's issues, it has nothing to do with me or anyone else here.''

Source: The Sunday Telegraph (Phil Rothfield and Phillip Heads)