Sydney couple Matthew and Annette Palmer are facing bankruptcy after being slapped with close to $80,000 in legal fees relating to a picture they posted on Facebook.
The Palmer’s saga began when a series of posters were placed around the small enclave of Scotland Island, just north of Sydney, in 2014.
The poster, headlined “Attention Island Residents”, described local resident Nader Mohareb as “a highly volatile individual, prone to manic outbursts … often abusive and threatening, particularly towards women and children” and “known to police”.
It also reportedly accused him of failing to control his “agitated and highly excitable” dogs in public.
Palmer posted a photo of the poster on the Scotland Island Community Facebook page but it was taken down by the page’s moderator because “mob justice and vigilantism” had no place on a page designed for “respectful conversation”.
The Palmers denied creating or posting the notice around the island but admitted posting it on Facebook.
Mohareb sued them for defamation, alleging the posts implied he was mentally unstable, contemptuous of accepted social conventions and decorum, has a history of violence and should be avoided by the local community.
After at least seven court appearances, Mohareb agreed to drop charges and pay some of the Palmer’s court fees if they published an apology on the Facebook page.
They did so, but a moderator of the page deleted the apology, unaware of the legal agreement between the two parties.
This move caused Mohareb to launch a new set of legal actions which have left the Palmers owing close to $80,000 in court fees and facing bankruptcy with no end to their legal troubles in sight.
