Fed: Cyclist wins $175,000 in defamation case

AAP General News (Australia)
04-27-2010
Fed: Cyclist wins $175,000 in defamation case

MELBOURNE, April 27 AAP - Olympic cyclist Mark French has been awarded $175,000 in
damages after he sued the Herald and Weekly Times for defamation.

The former junior world champion was banned from cycling for two years in 2004 and
also suffered a lifetime Olympics suspension because of doping offences, but was cleared
on appeal the following year.

Mr French, 25, sued the Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for damages in the Victorian
Supreme Court over two articles published in the Herald Sun newspaper in August 2004,
which he claims labelled him a disgraced drug cheat.

On Tuesday, Justice David Beach awarded Mr French $175,000 in damages, plus costs.

Outside court his solicitor, Michael Main, said Mr French was happy with the outcome.

"He was very relieved that the case was over and that he had been vindicated," he told reporters.

Mr French had also successfully sued radio station Triple M in 2008 for defamation
after he was described on air as a "dirty, stinking, dobbing cyclist".

In that case, he was awarded $350,000 in damages, plus costs.

AAP ce/gfr/cdh/mo

KEYWORD: FRENCH

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