David Hughes’ defamation claims against Channel 9, alleged kidnapper Juliet Oldroyd and husband Craig

Wild conspiracy theories posted to the Channel 9 Darwin’s Facebook page may land the news company in legal drama after the father of an alleged kidnapping victim sues for defamation.

The Darwin father of an alleged kidnapping victim is suing Channel 9 over comments made by sovereign citizens on their Facebook page.

David Hughes’s five-year-old daughter Grace disappeared for 12 days after allegedly being abducted from a supervised parental visit in Berrimah on August 7, 2022.

Her alleged kidnapping sparked a nationwide search for the young girl and her mother, with NT Police saying she was being hidden by a group with “their own agendas and own ideologies”.

Grace’s disappearance was the subject of wild social media speculation in the 12 days before she was handed in at a Territory police station in good health.

Five people were charged over her alleged kidnapping, including Grace’s mother Laura Hinks and her ‘mentor’ and alleged religious zealot Juliet Marie Oldroyd — described by a Supreme Court Justice as someone who “sees herself as answerable to God alone.”

A year after his daughter’s safe return, Mr Hughes has filed an application in the Darwin Supreme Court to sue Channel 9 Darwin over alleged defamatory posts hosted on their Facebook page, as well as comments made by Ms Oldroyd and her husband Craig Oldroyd.

In his initial application, Mr Hughes alleged the news company started hosting the defamatory posts from August 15, 2022 — eight days after his daughter disappeared.

Juliet Marie Oldroyd, 50, been charged with abducting five-year-old Grace Hughes from Darwin.

He said since Channel 9 was “maintaining a Facebook page and encouraging and facilitating the making of comments by third parties” they were responsible for the libellous claims being made by commenters.

Mr Hughes said the comments were seen by the wider public, causing him to be humiliated and embarrassed, impacted his personal and business reputation and therefore had suffered an economic and personal loss.

Craig Oldroyd, a self-proclaimed human rights advocate who has previously claimed he has “diplomatic protection” and refers to their Anula home as an “embassy”. Picture: Justin Kennedy

Mr Hughes is also suing his daughter’s alleged kidnapper and her husband — a self-proclaimed human rights advocate who has previously claimed he has “diplomatic protection” and refers to their Anula home as an “embassy”.

He alleged the Oldroyds started posting defamatory comments from August 10, and also maintained a Facebook page which encourages others to post about him.

Mr Hughes is suing the news company and the sovereign citizens for damages for personal and economic losses, aggravated damages, interest and costs.

“(And a) permanent injunctions restraining the Defendants from continuing to defame the Plaintiff on their Facebook pages or otherwise,” the application said.

The courts have not yet received a response from either Channel 9 or the Oldroyds.

Channel 9 Darwin said it would not comment on matters before the court.

Originally published as David Hughes’ defamation claims against Channel 9, alleged kidnapper Juliet Oldroyd and husband Craig