“I’ve been forced into bankruptcy as a result of a defamation case where I was found to be unsuccessful, owing a vet clinic $320,000 in damages,” Peterson said.
“And that doesn’t even include their legal costs, putting my debt to over half a million dollars.
“During the trial, I was forced to produce financial and bank statements because their lawyer was trying to claim that I did animal rights activism for financial gain.
“The judge denied this claim. The opposing lawyer also accused me of tax fraud, a serious allegation which again the judge found to be untrue.
“This accusation led to the Australian Tax Office auditing me for over two years worth of income and this lawyer is now being investigated by the WA Legal Board.”
In a judgment handed down in November last year, Supreme Court Chief Justice Peter Quinlan ruled Peterson and her partner Jack Higgs had used “provocative language” that carried defamatory imputations during the heated confrontation that was shared to the activist’s 84,000 Facebook followers.
With Jesinta Burton
Read the full article here
