Shandee Blackburn murder: Mum’s defence says John Peros a remorseless killer
John Peros is a remorseless killer who had no reputation to lose from Facebook posts calling him a murdering sociopath, court documents allege.
Former champion amateur boxer John Peros is a remorseless killer, had no reputation to lose and suffered no serious harm from Facebook posts calling him a murdering sociopath and narcissist, court documents allege.
Murder victim Shandee Blackburn’s mother, Vicki, has filed an explosive defence against Mr Peros, who is suing her for defamation in the Federal Court over comments other people made on a Facebook page dedicated to her slain daughter.
She was represented in court in Brisbane on Tuesday by the high-powered legal team of barristers Patrick McCafferty KC and Andrew O’Brien and solicitors John Sneddon and Karim Oreb from Shand Taylor Lawyers.
Mr McCafferty flagged a likely application for the defamation case to be dismissed because Mr Peros had not suffered the necessary serious harm for it to go ahead.
But Mr McCafferty said if the case continued it would effectively be a “murder trial”, with the defence arguing in court documents that Mr Peros did kill Blackburn as she walked home from work in Mackay in 2013.
In an extraordinary legal claim, Mr Peros is suing Ms Blackburn despite a coroner declaring in written and published findings in 2020 that he stabbed his 23-year-old former girlfriend Shandee to death.
Ms Blackburn’s defence alleges Mr Peros had no reputation to lose because coroner David O’Connell found he killed Shandee, and because those findings are publicly available and received extensive publicity.
“The mitigating factors … reduce the damages that should otherwise be awarded to (Mr Peros) to such an extent that there should be no award of damages,” defence documents state.
Mr Peros had previously been acquitted by a jury of Shandee’s murder and denies any involvement.
He is suing Ms Blackburn because he alleges she was an administrator of the Justice for Shandee Facebook group, which was launched soon after Shandee was viciously stabbed to death and has about 6,127 members.
Ms Blackburn in her defence denies publishing the Facebook comments as an administrator of the group.
Judge Roger Derrington said if there was “no serious harm that is the end of it … without that there is no course of action”.
Mr Peros’s claim against Ms Blackburn alleges that on October 3 last year she published a post with a link to an article by The Australian.
The article was about Mr Peros suing Shandee’s sister, Shannah, in a separate case over comments she made accusing him of murdering her sister on The Australian’s Shandee’s Story podcast.
On the same day, Facebook user “Rainie Martin” replied to the post.
“Of course he is, that’s exactly what a murdering sociopath would do … my love and support is with you Vicki and Shannah,” the reply stated, accompanied by a love heart emoji.
Another post was made on October 3 by an account under the name Inhal Eagles.
“What a complete & utter control freak & narcissist. Has no empathy for others. This family has lost a sister & daughter, on what planet is this acceptable!” the post stated.
A third post, from December 10 last year, was made by Facebook user “Janet Bennett” and commented on a lawyer who represented Mr Peros.
“How he sleeps at night knowing he has kept a murderer on the street is beyond me,” the post stated.
Mr Peros is not suing any of the people who made the posts, only Ms Blackburn for allegedly publishing them as a group administrator.
His separate claim against Shannah Blackburn, Nationwide News as publishers of The Australian, and investigative journalist Hedley Thomas is being heard in the Supreme Court in Queensland.
Mr McCafferty said he understood the defendants in the separate Supreme Court case would similarly be applying to have that case dismissed on the grounds that Mr Peros was not caused any serious harm.
In a third legal case, Mr Peros this year also lodged a $20m damages claim in Queensland’s Supreme Court against the state and the lead police investigator, Detective Sergeant Lisa Elkins, alleging he was a victim of malicious prosecution and wrongful imprisonment.
Justice Derrington reminded Mr Peros’s lawyers of their overriding obligation to do everything possible to ensure efficient and inexpensive determination of issues.
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