A couple who posted inflammatory comments about a neighbour on a community Facebook page are facing a hefty legal bill after being sued for defamation.
Matt and Annette Palmer were left with a $15,000 legal bill in the case, which began when a series of posters were placed around the small enclave of Scotland Island, just north of Sydney, last year, Fairfax Media reports.
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.
Mr 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.
Mr 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.
Fairfax reported the case went to court at least seven times and the Palmers had to borrow money to cover their legal bills.
An attempted settlement that included Mr Mohareb paying some of their costs in return for an apology on the community Facebook page fell apart when the apology was deleted.
District Court Judge Judith Gibson handed down a judgement last month, saying an apology should stay on the site but the case shouldn’t go any further after it had been posted for a couple of months.
Judge Gibson refused the Palmers’ application for a lump sum costs order, described the comments about Mr Mohareb as “serious defamations” and said the Facebook page administrators should have been contacted prior to the publication of the apology.
