‘I did not see his side at all’: Barrister claims apology over Instagram-famous dog Oscar was fake

A barrister locked in a custody battle over a famous cavoodle has told a court she was forced to apologise in writing for criticising the dog’s care arrangement.

Gina Edwards with her lawyer Sue Chrysanthou outside the Federal Court in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

A barrister who is suing a Nine News program over reports she claims falsely implied she stole an Instagram-famous cavoodle has told a court she apologised to the dog’s co-owner for insulting his family during a dispute to appease him but was not actually “ashamed or embarrassed”.

Gina Edwards is suing A Current Affair and journalist Steve Marshall for defamation over the 2021 reporting of her custody battle with Mark Gillespie, with whom she and her husband Ken Flavell co-owned prized pooch Oscar.

Mr Gillespie had bought the dog in 2016 and registered Mr Flavell as the secondary owner, with the trio acting as a family for the beloved pet, the Federal Court was previously told.

But in May 2018, Mr Gillespie’s relatives began caring for Oscar at a property in Wingello, in the NSW Southern Highlands, while he was working away as a cruise ship director.

Mr Flavell previously told the court Oscar appeared to “lose weight” and was “unkempt” when he returned from Wingello.

The court was told Ms Edwards and Mr Gillespie had a confrontation in July that year over Oscar’s care arrangement, during which he allegedly threatened her with never seeing the dog again, but then told her to “keep the f**king dog”.

“He said ‘don’t talk about my f**king family that way’,” Ms Edwards previously told the court.

During cross-examination on Friday, it was suggested to Ms Edwards that Mr Gillespie actually told her to “keep the f**king dog for now” but she said that was not true.

Gina Edwards (left) was cross-examined on Friday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles

Some time after the incident, Ms Edwards said she wanted to send Mr Gillespie an email because there were many people speaking to him and she was concerned “things were getting lost”.

“I was told by several people that he was upset,” she said.

“He demanded an apology in writing.”

Ms Edwards she said would have apologised for anything if that would end the dispute.

Orally, she told him she was sorry that he took offence that she was insulting his family.

Ms Edwards said he expressed disappointment that there was a delay in her apology.

In her email, she said there were “a lot of things” she wrote that were untruthful.

“I was not ashamed, or embarrassed, or humiliated,” she said.

“I was told to say that because it would appeal to him because of his personality profile.”

Asked if the line was true when she said she saw his side of the issue 100 per cent, she said no and noted he had screamed and scared her during the confrontation.

“I definitely was not telling the truth there. I did not see his side at all,” she said.

Ms Edwards also said she was not apologetic for being disrespectful to his family.

Asked about a line when she said she was “so very sorry”, she told the court she “absolutely was not sorry”.

Barrister Gina Edwards with Oscar the cavoodle. Ms Edwards has launched defamation proceedings against A Current Affair over their reporting of a custody dispute involving Oscar. Picture: Supplied

Ms Edwards said the eventual decision to seek sole custody of Oscar was based on legal advice.

“The entire dispute mattered personally to me and it affected me deeply that it had come to this point,” she said.

Asked why it was appropriate to take the dog from Mr Gillespie, Ms Edwards said: “I disagree that it was his dog.”

“He left the country for 19 months and said it was going to be six months,” she added.

“He was only coming back for short periods of time and had abandoned him to relatives who I believed and Ken believed … were not caring for him properly and who had inappropriately denied access to us, to our property.”

Asked if she was making a pre-emptive strike because she became aware that Mr Gillespie might move to Las Vegas and take Oscar with him, Ms Edwards said that was not the case.

“He couldn’t get into the United States, he had no legal ability to do that,” she said.

Ms Edwards said the eventual decision to seek sole custody of Oscar was based on legal advice. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles

Mr Gillespie’s sister-in-law, Simona Angeli, later testified on Friday that her family “loved and adored” Oscar. She rejected the suggestion they did not take good care of the dog.

She said the dog was walked regularly and had a big backyard to run around in, and that she would brush him at least twice per day.

In September 2019, she said the family agreed to stop allowing Ms Edwards and Mr Flavell to have access to Oscar.

“I never really wanted to share a dog,” Ms Angeli said.

Her son and her other dog were sad when Oscar left them, she added.

Ms Angeli said she had noticed Oscar would return from visits with Ms Edwards feeling sick in his stomach and she believed he was not being fed the right food in Sydney.

She denied he was ever skinny leaving her home.

Ms Angeli also commented that she did not like seeing Oscar wearing clothes and sunglasses, saying she preferred a “free dog”.

It was Ms Angeli who reported Oscar as being stolen.

The hearing before Justice Michael Wigney continues.