Ultra Tune boss, ex-girlfriend may face off at trial
A legal fight between Ultra Tune boss Sean Buckley and his model ex-girlfriend is likely to go to trial as he seeks to block the release of private recordings.
Police & Courts
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The legal spat over secret recordings between Ultra Tune boss Sean Buckley and his bikini model ex-girlfriend is shaping up to go to trial.
The case returned to Victoria’s Supreme Court on Friday for a brief administrative hearing where a gag order on Jennifer Cruz Cole was extended.
The order prevents her from making public some 100 recordings of private conversations she had with the millionaire car service tycoon when they were still together and living at Crown casino in Melbourne.
Justice John Dixon earlier this month put in the interim order restraining Ms Cole after Mr Buckley made an urgent injunction application to the court.
An earlier hearing heard how the recordings were subject to a Victoria Police criminal investigation as they portrayed a “violent attack” against Ms Cole.
No further details have emerged in court as to the contents of the recordings.
Mr Buckley argues the recordings were made without his consent and any public release would put his reputation “in significant peril” and cause “extraordinary economic loss”.
Ms Cole and Mr Buckley, who have a young daughter together, split in December.
They have now enlisted top barristers to fight their case, with Mr Buckley represented in Friday’s hearing by Marcus Clarke, QC, and Dr Theo Alexander for Ms Cole.
Pending any trial decision, Ms Cole is prohibited from disseminating, publishing, posting, emailing, broadcasting or otherwise communicating to the public any recordings between her and Mr Buckley between September 1, 2019, and February 1, 2021.
Mr Buckley’s former employee Anthony Swords — an ex-managing director of Gattocorp who worked for Ultra Tune for two years — has also been slapped with the same orders.
The trial will examine how many recordings were made, what is on them and if they should be surrendered or destroyed.
The case will return before Justice Dixon in April.
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