Luke Sayers and wife Cate’s legal battle over d**k pic scandal to remain in Victorian Supreme Court
A decision has been made on whether the legal battle between former Carlton boss Luke Sayers and his estranged wife Cate will remain in the public eye.
A defamation case brought by former Carlton boss Luke Sayers’ estranged wife Cate Sayers against her husband will remain in the public eye following a judge’s ruling.
Mrs Sayers is suing her husband alleging he defamed her by pointing the finger at her in an internal AFL inquiry after a d--k pic was posted to Mr Sayers’ X account in January.
The photo was deleted about 15 minutes later, with Mr Sayers’ account posting’ “sorry my account has been hacked — please ignore all posts”.
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She denies posting the picture, claiming she wasn’t staying in the same hotel as her husband at the time it was posted.
Last month, Mr Sayers launched a legal bid in the Victorian Supreme Court seeking to have the case moved to the Family Court of Australia — a move that would have impacted media coverage of the trial due to legal restrictions.
Ms Sayers opposed the move, arguing if the case was moved she may not be able to be publicly vindicated.
In a judgment handed down on Wednesday morning by Supreme Court judge Andrew Watson, he found it was not in the interest of justice to transfer the proceeding.
“I have determined that, having regard to the interests of justice, it is not ‘more appropriate’ that the proceeding in this Court be determined by the Family Court,” he wrote.
“Cate submitted, and I accept, that an important function of the tort of defamation is the capacity it provides to a successful plaintiff to vindicate their reputation.”
