John Peros claims he became ‘recluse’ with no friends after Shandee’s Story podcast

John Peros says he became a recluse, struggled to find a job or maintain friendships because people thought he murdered his ex-girlfriend Shandee Blackburn after the release of an episode of The Australian’s investigative podcast series Shandee’s Story.

John Peros. Picture: Lee Constable / Daily Mercury

John Peros says he became a recluse, struggled to find a job or maintain friendships because people thought he murdered his ex-girlfriend Shandee Blackburn after the release of an episode of The Australian’s investigative podcast series Shandee’s Story.

Mr Peros claims he suffered serious harm to his reputation from the episode which was published more than a year after a coroner found he savagely stabbed Ms Blackburn to death as she walked home from work in Mackay in 2013. He had previously been acquitted by a jury of her murder. He denies any involvement.

Mr Peros is suing Nationwide News as publishers of The Aus­tralian, Shandee’s sister Shannah Blackburn, ­and national chief correspondent Hedley Thomas over comments made in Episode 13 of Shandee’s Story.

In the episode, Shannah Blackburn spoke of her firm belief that Coroner David O’Connell got it right when he delivered his finding in August 2020.

At a pre-trial Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday, to determine whether the podcast episode caused serious harm to Mr Peros’s reputation, lawyers for the defendants argued the former champion amateur boxer had suffered the same level of harm as when the coronial findings were handed down.

“Episode 13 has said nothing more than the conclusion to which the coroner came – he is a killer,” barrister Dauid Sibtain told the court.

Shandee Blackburn with Mr Peros.

In documents filed to the court, Mr Peros said he lost his job after the first episode was released and as a consequence of the Episode 13, had become a recluse, struggled to obtain employment and had ceased having “meaningful” friendships or relationships.

Mr Sibtain said it was “remarkable” Mr Peros had not called a single witness or produced evidence to prove he had been shunned from social circles and that people thought less of him after Episode 13 was released.

“There’s no evidence that he became a recluse. There’s no evidence that he ceased to have meaningful friendships and relationships with others. There’s no evidence that he had struggled and struggled from time to time to obtain employment,” he said.

“There’s just a gaping vacuum in relation to the evidence. The only safe conclusion is that if that evidence had been given would not have assisted him, in other words, he would have said ‘nobody treated me any differently’.”

Mr Peros’s barrister, David Helvadjian, said Episode 13 went further than coronial conclusions, which were not findings of criminal guilt.

“It elevates it to certainty, and it does that by bringing in all this other material to undercut the jury acquittal, it’s not just a repetition of the coronial finding,” he said. “It’s simply not possible for such a widespread mass media publication with such a grave imputation not to have caused serious harm.”

Even if people believed before Episode 13 that Mr Peros killed Ms Blackburn, it still caused serious reputational harm because it “so reinforced that view”, Mr Helvadjian said.

Justice Peter Applegarth, who is retiring in October, said he hoped to deliver a judgment on the matter in August. If Justice Applegarth finds Episode 13 did not seriously harm Mr Peros, his defamation claim collapses. If he finds serious harm occurred, the matter will head to trial.