Advertisement

Dank suing for defamation over Mannah articles

ABC

ABC

Stephen Dank is taking on two Sydney newspapers that published stories saying the death of star footballer Jon Mannah may have been accelerated by substances the sports scientist administered.

Mr Dank will argue his reputation was ruined by articles published in the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph in 2013, in a defamation trial against the papers’ News Corporation-controlled publisher Nationwide News.

In a front page story in April 2013, the Daily Telegraph made the claim about the death of Mannah, a Cronulla Sharks rugby league player, who had died at the beginning of 2013.

• Essendon appeal will be lengthy: WADA president
• AFL star reveals shocking Instagram attack
• Garry Lyon battles ‘serious mental health condition’

The Mannah family refuted the claims soon after they were published.

Responding to the reports in 2013, Mr Dank confirmed he had offered Mannah peptides but vehemently denied contributing to his death, saying he had consulted “with oncologists about what effects peptides would have on [Mannah’s] condition”.

Jon Mannah's family has refuted links between peptide use and his death from cancer.

Jon Mannah’s family has refuted links between peptide use and his death from cancer. Photo: Getty

Mr Dank was investigated in 2013 and 2014 by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) over allegations he had prescribed banned substances to Sharks’ players as well as members of other sporting teams, including the Essendon AFL club.

Mr Dank has strongly denied ever giving banned substances to NRL players, while Cronulla staff and players denied knowingly administering or taking illegal substances.

Last year, 17 past and present Sharks players were handed show cause notices by ASADA in relation to allegations of taking prohibited substances in 2011.

In the defamation trial, which began in Sydney on Monday, Mr Dank’s lawyer Clive Evatt has to convince a jury of three men and a woman that Mr Dank’s reputation was damaged by the page-one piece and two other articles.

He told the court: “Mr Dank comes before you as a man of excellent reputation, which we say has been ruined by the defendant including the editors and the journalists.”

He said in the court the Daily Telegraph had the biggest circulation of any newspaper in the state.

Football has become highly professional, scientific: lawyer

The lawyer leaned in close to the jury as he made his opening address and explained to the jurors how football had changed since the days when players mostly lived in the area of their club.

“It’s highly professional now and everything is scientific,” he said.

He emphasised that each of the 16 teams in the NRL competition had a sports scientist whose job was to prescribe substances to make players less tired.

Mr Evatt said his client was a qualified biochemist and careful about what substances he administered.

He then challenged the Daily Telegraph‘s suggestion that Mannah’s death from cancer may have been accelerated by peptides administered by Mr Dank.

“We say that the article is completely untrue and we didn’t administer warfarin,” Mr Evatt said.

The jurors are obliged to put themselves in the shoes of an ordinary reasonable reader, who had read the whole article, not just skimmed the first few paragraphs, as many people often do.

Mr Evatt read out a number of passages from the front-page article, including the headline: “Peptide link to NRL star’s death”.

Mr Dank’s standing in the community will be a central issue in this trial.

As Mr Evatt said: “We are not born with a reputation”, instead it was earned as we aged.

A reputation he explained was “what people say about us behind our back”.

Nationwide News has previously said it was standing by the piece.

ABC

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.