The Snitch: Gazal wedding ‘disaster’ set to bypass court
NORA Gazal Milling, the sister of Real Housewives Of Sydney star Nicole Gazal O’Neil, launched legal action against Catalina restaurant in Rose Bay over her wedding reception ‘disaster’ — but it may not play out in court after all.
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WEDDING RECEPTION ‘DISASTER’
SYDNEY society’s most anticipated frosting-covered hissy-fit may not play out in court after all.
Parties involved in the now-infamous Gazal wedding brouhaha are set to bypass the courtroom and will instead head for mediation early next month.
On one side of the table will be Nora Gazal Milling who cried “disaster” in June when she launched legal action against Catalina restaurant in Rose Bay over her wedding reception held there in February.
Gazal, who is the sister of Real Housewives Of Sydney star Nicole Gazal O’Neil, declared her dream day was nothing short of a shambles and filed a statement of claim seeking damages of just under $55,000.
Among her gripes were that a power outage allegedly caused the icing on her wedding cake to melt and that the food provided by Catalina’s award-winning kitchen was mostly “cold and inedible”.
She has even claimed hungry guests were forced to scoff hot dogs from a nearby stand.
However it’s understood Catalina is not taking the case lying down and has countered with some considerable legal clout in the form
of powerhouse QC — and eldest son of the late Gough and Margaret — Tony Whitlam.
Among its defence is believed to be statements from power providers Ausgrid confirming an outage on the night was out of their control. And that the said “hot dog stand” was not, as Gazal claims, wheeled in at the last minute but part of the atmospheric “entertainment” package planned three months prior.
The juicy powwow will now be confined to the ears of a judicial registrar after Gazal Milling agreed to a mediation. However, should the parties emerge dissatisfied, a courtroom rendezvous may loom.
THE STRAINS OF PRISON LIFE
SOMETIMES The Snitch stumbles across stories that are, how shall we put it, not for the squeamish.
Often the “eurrgh” factor is too high to make it into print but on this occasion, well, our curiosity about what goes on in prison got the better of us.
The story allegedly goes that a Parklea Jail inmate, who we cannot name, was to smuggle tobacco into the prison for three other inmates by inserting a package up his rear end while on day release in May.
But when he became the goose who couldn’t lay the golden egg, so to speak, the other inmates allegedly became suspicious that he’d stolen the tobacco and bashed the man with a chair before demanding money.
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Court documents show the man tried on at least four occasions to pass the tobacco — once with the assistance of a laxative — without success.
One of the inmates allegedly told the man, “you got to produce, just produce today,” to which the man replied he was trying his best. And then things got really serious.
At one point, the man was allegedly led into a cell and given the choice of plastic knives covered with a pink rubber glove, a toilet brush or a dustpan brush to dislodge the tobacco. Police claim he chose the knives and when that didn’t work, he was allegedly told to use a hose in a prison version of a colonic irrigation. Again no luck.
Three inmates, Jamie Lee Patterson, Timothy Scott Boyd and Dean Barry Buttris, were charged with aggravated forced self manipulation. Patterson’s lawyer Benjamin Goh said his client was planning to defend the charge. Buttris and Boyd have not indicated if they will enter a plea.
The matter is back in Penrith Local Court on November 2 and we’ll try our best to squeeze out any more information.
LIVING IN A WORLD OF PELICANS
FROM the one-liners he threw out while defending himself in a 14-week murder trial, you’d be forgiven for thinking Luke “Fatboy” Sparos had delusions of grandeur. But then he won his case.
To give you a taste of his unique courtroom style, at one stage the crown prosecutor jumped to his feet to object to the submission Sparos was making.
Sparos, who clearly thought he was on a roll, couldn’t believe it.
“Your honour, how can I soar like an eagle when I’m surrounded by pelicans?” he asked.
DODGER IN THE BOX
FALLEN cop Roger Rogerson could be making a return to the witness box.
The former detective, who is famed for his courtroom performances both as a cop and a crim, is a maybe to be called in the case relating to an alleged bribery attempt of convicted murderer Ron Medich.
His lawyer Peter Katsoolis said he was waiting to be told if his client, who was jailed for life for murdering drug dealer Jamie Gao, would be called. Stay tuned.
IBRAHIM’s LEGAL EAGLE
SYDNEY’S favourite nightclub identity has a well-documented history with some of the state’s top criminal lawyers. But now it’s been revealed who John Ibrahim goes to when he has defamation problems.
Barrister Clarissa Amato is acting for the Kings Cross figure, who is being sued in the Federal Court by Tom Domican. Ms Amato, from Banco Chambers, is no stranger to high-profile cases having represented Sarah Hanson-Young in a successful defamation claim against Zoo Magazine after the publication photoshopped her face on to a bikini model in 2012.
ALL THAT’S FIT TO PRINT
BUZZFEED has copped a defamation lawsuit for publishing a political story last month that spread like wildfire. The article explored the relationship between Liberal MP Alex Hawke and a printing business, owned by a Liberal Party donor, in Sydney.
Zion Graphics owner Rudy Limantono filed a statement of claim in the Federal Court claiming the story had “greatly injured” his business and personal reputation.
According to his claim, the Buzzfeed story, which was picked up by other news outlets and “gloated” about on Twitter, was “over sensationalised”.