John Jarratt launches defamation case against The Daily Telegraph after being found not guilty of rape
Actor John Jarratt, best known for his role in Wolf Creek, is proceeding with a defamation case against Nationwide News, publisher of The Daily Telegraph, after a jury found him not guilty of rape on Friday.
Jarratt’s high-profile lawyer Chris Murphy, who has represented the likes of NRL player Sam Burgess and actor Matthew Newton, took to Twitter to announce his client would be pursuing the defamation claim.
NEWS: Defamation proceedings were commenced in NSW Supreme Court on 16th November 2018. The civil Statement of Claim was filed pending resolution of police charges. Documents will now be served on the defendant. John Jarratt v Nationwide News court Mention 18th August next.
— chris murphy (@chrismurphys) July 8, 2019
A statement of claim, which is the document that starts a court case, was filed in November last year, according to Murphy, with the matter set down for a court mention on 18 August.
On Saturday morning, the day after the acquittal, Murphy tweeted that he was “engineering next move for innocent victim now plaintiff John Jarratt”.
7:00am The morning after. Engineering next move for innocent victim now plaintiff John Jarratt. pic.twitter.com/LKBmoiy9m2
— chris murphy (@chrismurphys) July 6, 2019
In May, Geoffrey Rush won a record-breaking defamation case against Nationwide News, with The Daily Telegraph’s publisher ordered to pay the actor $2.87m. The Daily Telegraph is appealing the judgment, claiming the judge could have been biased.
Recently, Dylan Voller won the first round of a defamation case against publishers, including Nationwide News masthead The Australian, which were found to be liable for comments readers make on their Facebook pages. News Corp, Nationwide News’ parent company, is planning to appeal the decision.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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