The owner of a popular Melbourne nightclub has won a defamation lawsuit against the Victorian State Government.
As The Age reports, a jury found that Inflation nightclub owner Martha Tsamis was defamed by a former senior police officer, however comments made by Superintendent Brett Guerin in 2014 that the King Street venue was a "honeypot" for drug dealers were considered to be accurate.
The statement came at a time when police were pushing for the nightclub to close at 3am instead of 8am, following claims that drug use and overdoses, as well as underage drinking, were taking place at the venue.
The jury found that Guerin had defamed Tsamis after he accused her of approaching witnesses who had shared statements with the police in relation to the push for the earlier closing time, where he described her behaviour as "improper, inappropriate and unlawful".
"The Supreme Court has found that I had been defamed by a former member of Victoria Police," Tsamis said.
"The defamatory publications damaged both my reputation and my livelihood. I fought a long and expensive battle to clear my name, and today, the Supreme Court agreed."
According to The Age, the state have spent up to $1 million in the defamation case and could now also be ordered to cover Tsamis' legal expenses.
Inflation made national news in July 2017, when two people were shot by police at the venue. It is believed that Inflation Nightclub was hosting a costume party on 8 July and that the man shot by police, Dale Ewins, was dressed as The Joker from the film Suicide Squad and carrying a prop gun.
