On 4th April 2009, New Idea published an article about me in which it was falsely claimed that I was in a romantic relationship with another man with whom my children and I had been photographed in the United States.

That man was, of course, my brother, Shaun.

Within 24 or so hours, New Idea had admitted its error.  It later apologised in two subsequent editions of the magazine.

I was advised by my lawyers that I had an “open and shut” case against New Idea in defamation, but it seemed to me that there was a far more important principle at stake.  How could New Idea get its facts so badly wrong and why would they not check the accuracy of what they were publishing?

Rather than sue New Idea in defamation, I brought proceedings in the Supreme Court of South Australia to compel New Idea to disclose its sources for the article and the pictures which went with it.

Over strenuous opposition from New Idea, the Supreme Court ordered it to disclose its sources.  Recently, my lawyers and I have had an opportunity to examine the documents that New Idea were compelled to hand over.

There are some legal constraints on what I can say about the matter, but New Idea had produced very few documents relevant to the story, apart from identifying Los Angeles paparazzi as the source of at least some of the photographs.

I have come to the view that is not in my or my family’s interests, or the public interest, to take the matter further.  New Idea have been shown to be at fault and look foolish enough.  I hope that they have learnt a lesson - you cannot fabricate stories or rely on what you are told without cross checking the facts.

I hope that all gossip magazines think more carefully before running salacious stories based on wrong or dubious facts.  As a result of my actions in the South Australian Supreme Court, they can no longer hide behind their sources.

The End.

The Supreme Court of South Australia handed down its decision late last week in Bec’s legal action against New Idea for the disclosure of documents identifying the source or sources of a story which appeared in New Idea on 4 April 2009. 

Amongst other things, that story had falsely asserted that “Minder Mark” was the “new man in her life”.  The man identified was, in fact, Bec’s brother, Shaun Cartwright.

In a legal first, Bec won Orders from the Court requiring New Idea to reveal documents disclosing its sources for the erroneous article.  The matter has been relisted for hearing on Thursday, 29 October 2009 for formal Orders to be made specifying the time within which New Idea will have to disclose these documents.