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Some of the ‘worst gutter journalism’ imaginable

The girlfriend of convicted murderer Simon Gittany has reached a settlement with the publisher of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper over articles she said portrayed her as a stripper and a prostitute.

Rachelle Louise sued Nationwide News in the District Court for defamation, and claimed the stories had also portrayed her as “delusional” for her support of Gittany.

Halfway through a jury trial, the parties announced that the case would not be proceeding.

The terms of the settlement are confidential and each party will pay their own costs.

Speaking outside court, Ms Louise said: “I am ecstatic with the result.”

She said she could not go into details about the outcome and thanked her legal team.

“This is the first hurdle of many. Now that I have cleared my name, I can clear Simon’s.”

Gittany was sentenced to 26 years’ jail for the murder of his fiancee Lisa Harnum after he pushed her off a 15th floor apartment balcony in Sydney’s CBD in 2011.

Ms Louise supported Gittany throughout his murder trial, and protested his innocence.

Ms Louise’s barrister Clive Evatt earlier told the District Court that The Daily Telegraph newspaper defamed his client with some of the worst “gutter journalism” imaginable.

He told the court The Daily Telegraph’s stories about her carried the meaning she was a stripper, a prostitute and a woman of loose morals.

They made “false allegation after false allegation”, including claims she stripped in Las Vegas, kissed Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson and accepted diamonds from strangers, Mr Evatt said.

 

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