No-row affair ends up in court

[Fiona]

The famous collapse of Australian rower Sally Robbins at the Athens Olympics is now at the centre of a court action, with Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) boss John Coates suing broadcaster Alan Jones for defamation.

Mr Coates is suing Mr Jones and Sydney radio station 2GB in the NSW Supreme Court over three segments broadcast by Jones on December 8 and 9 last year.

During the broadcasts, Mr Jones spoke about the "no-row" affair involving Robbins, the Australian rower who famously stopped rowing during the final of the women's eights race at the Athens Olympics last year.

Mr Jones accused Mr Coates of bullying the women's rowing crew, covering up previous similar incidents involving Robbins, failing to show adequate leadership, and handling the affair badly.

The radio host called on Mr Coates to resign, saying it was "time for John Coates to give the guernsey to someone else".

"It's been handled appallingly," Mr Jones told his listeners.

Both men were in court, sitting just three metres apart but not making eye contact.

Counsel for Mr Coates, Bruce McClintock, SC, told the court Mr Jones' comments made his client sound incompetent.

"Jones said ... he was incompetent and was bad at his job in Athens," Mr McClintock said.

He urged members of the four-member jury to answer "yes" when asking themselves whether Mr Jones had defamed Mr Coates.

"The answers are, very clearly, yes - in favour of my client," Mr McClintock said.

The hearing continues.

theage.co.au

[Fiona]

Jury finds against Jones in Olympic rowing defamation case

The broadcaster Alan Jones and his station, 2GB, defamed the head of the Australian Olympic Committee, John Coates, seven times in less than three minutes last December, a jury has found.

Jones had commented on the women's eight rowing final at the Athens Olympics when the Australian rower Sally Robbins stopped rowing before the finish line.

The radio host had suggested, the jury found yesterday, that Mr Coates had covered up the fact that "this had happened" to Ms Robbins at an earlier race.

Jones had also implied Mr Coates had bullied Ms Robbins's teammates into saying what he wanted them to say at a media conference after the event - another defamatory statement, the jury found.

Jones had also suggested Mr Coates had been incompetent in the way he handled the matter.

"The leadership was sadly lacking … At the end of the day it's the Olympic leadership that were at fault," Jones had said in one of the three separate broadcasts in the early morning of December 8 and 9 last year.

The Supreme Court jury decided that seven separate meanings were contained in the broadcasts, and that each of them was defamatory of Mr Coates.
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At the next stage of the defamation trial, Harbour Radio, which operates 2GB, and Jones can present their defences to a judge, who later decides what, if any, compensation should be paid to Mr Coates.

Mr Coates's reputation had been affected when Jones had "stuck the metaphorical dagger between the ribs of Mr Coates", his lawyer, Bruce McClintock, SC, told the jury.

Jones had suggested Mr Coates had acted dishonestly, had done his job badly and it was time for him to go. But Jones's lawyer, Guy Reynolds, SC, said many listeners did not pay particular attention when listening to the radio and would not have thought less of Mr Coates as a result of it.

"Ask yourself how the ordinary, reasonable listener would think about the way Mr Jones speaks," he said. "He doesn't muck around. He calls a spade a spade. He says what he means and he means what he says."

It had been Mr Coates's duty to protect the confidential information about Ms Robbins, and to prepare athletes for the media conference, Mr Reynolds argued. Saying he had done this was not defamatory of him.

The broadcast had been about Ms Robbins, and not Mr Coates, and had not even named him as responsible for some of the allegations before the court, he said.

smh.com.au