Days 11 to 13 – Gill & Herron v HarperCollins & Cannane defamation trial

Days 11 to 13 – 15 to 17 June 2020 – Cross examination of Steve Cannane

Dr John Gill and former psychiatrist John Herron, who were involved in the deep sleep therapy and electroconvulsive therapy scandal at the Chelmsford Private Hospital in Sydney in the 1960s and 1970s, are suing HarperCollins Publishers Australia and ABC journalist Steve Cannane for defamation over a 28 page chapter of Cannane’s book Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia

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Day 10 – defence opens in Gill & Herron v HarperCollins & Cannane defamation trial

Day 10: 12 June 2020 – Defence opening address

Dr John Gill and former psychiatrist John Herron were involved in the deep sleep therapy scandal at the Chelmsford Private Hospital in Sydney that was the subject of a Royal Commission in 1989. Gill and Herron are suing HarperCollins Publishing Australia and ABC journalist Steve Cannane for defamation over a 28 page chapter of Cannane’s book Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia  Continue reading

Day 9 – Gill & Herron v HarperCollins & Cannane defamation trial

Fair-Game-CoverDay 9: 11 June 2020 – procedural argument to strike out s 29 defence of fair report of proceedings of public interest 

In 2016 HarperCollins Publishers Australia published a book authored by ABC journalist Steve Cannane, Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia. Cannane and the publishers are being sued for defamation by Dr John Gill and former psychiatrist John Herron. They were involved in the administration of deep sleep therapy and electroconvulsive therapy at the Chelmsford Private Hospital in Sydney in the 1970s. Continue reading

Videos: Defamation in Australia with Esther Rockett

In part one of these two videos I talk through some of the technical points of defamation law in Australia. In part two I look at how the law has played out in six cases.

I am not a lawyer. None of this content is a substitute for advice from a qualified legal professional.

I am, however, a successful defamation defendant. I won a defamation case brought by Universal Medicine cult leader, Serge Benhayon. I represented myself for over a year without a solicitor due to lack of funds.

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Universal apologies: Serge Benhayon & Universal Medicine FACTS team apologise to Esther Rockett

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Benhayon’s Ageless Wisdom following his litigation failure. At bottom of same page is a retraction of false allegations he published about me, with an unreserved apology.

From May 2014, Serge Benhayon and his Universal Medicine associates published profuse false and defamatory allegations about me on social media. In response to legal complaints from me, the defamatory articles published on UM websites have been removed, and Benhayon and seven colleagues who published the majority of those have published apologies.

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Esther Rockett triumphs in Benhayon v Rockett defamation case

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Northern Star 7 December 2018

On 15 October 2018 a four person Supreme Court jury unanimously vindicated Esther Rockett after a three year court battle against Universal Medicine cult leader, Serge Benhayon. Read about the court’s findings on the blog article: Benhayon v Rockett victory at last and the way forward.

Esther thanks all of her supporters and her legal team for all their efforts in ensuring her success at trial. If you’re new to Universal Medicine see the Wikipedia overview Esther’s blogs Universal Medicine cult exposed and Universal Medicine Accountability, and her YouTube video series Unpacking Universal Medicine.

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