The injunction on Amber Harrison, the former mistress of Seven’s chief executive, Tim Worner, has been extended until 3 March after the New South Wales supreme court heard Harrison threatened in emails to “destroy” her “idiot boss”.
Seven West Media’s lawyers produced the new emails as they argued for a permanent injunction against Harrison, who has been releasing documents on Twitter that Seven claims are confidential.
Harrison, who has been the subject of intense media interest since revealing the affair in December, was not in the packed courtroom in Sydney to hear the parties arguing over the fallout from her relationship with Worner between 2012 and 2014. Nor was Worner.
Her barrister, James Catlin, said Seven West Media had launched a “full-scale media campaign to cause maximum damage” to his client and “vilify her as a thief” after an interim injunction against her last week.
Catlin said Seven had used its considerable resources to wage war against the unemployed woman including allowing the Seven West chairman, Kerry Stokes, and the former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett to vilify her last week.
Stokes said Harrison had stolen a “significant amount of money” from Seven and he backed the decision by Kennett, a Seven West Media director, to write a harsh assessment of the scandal that was published in the Australian and syndicated nationally.
“You have a billionaire, a TV station and an ex-premier going to the media saying she is a thief,” Catlin said.
Justice McDougall asked Seven barrister Andrew Bell why Harrison should not be allowed to respond on social media to allegations she is a thief.
According to emails produced by Seven sent by Harrison after the affair with Worner was over, Harrison said she would unleash a “reign of terror” aimed at “finishing” Worner, a married man with four children.
“He knows I am now out to get him,” Harrison said in the 2014 email produced in court. “This is now war.”
Harrison, who left Seven in 2014, said she had “zero apart from a thousand texts from someone I’m about to blow the head off”.
Bell said Harrison had breached her agreements with Seven for the settlement between them to be confidential and had accessed company documents illegally.
“On the very eve of signing the first deed, Ms Harrison is assembling evidence for her disgraceful purposes,” Bell said. “You might ask, ‘What on earth she is assembling those materials for other than deploying them to advantage her in the future?’”
Bell said Harrison was paid $428,418 as part of her settlement with Seven after the damaging affair but was required to destroy all documents and keep the matter confidential.
“She has after all been paid a very significant amount of money as the price for promises that we made,” Bell told the court. “If her employment opportunities have suffered it is because of the breach [of the deed]. It has nothing to do with my client.”
An affidavit from Harrison which explained “how Ms Harrison related to Mr Worner and how relationships break down” was presented to the court by her barrister. But it was heavily redacted after Seven argued it contained “scandalous” material.
Adding a twist to the legal battle, two rival newspaper publishers, Fairfax Media and News Corp Australia, joined forces to fight the injunction alongside Harrison’s lawyers.
News and Fairfax argued that Harrison should be allowed to tell her side of the story in the interests of free speech.
Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids the Herald Sun and the Daily Telegraph have published dozens of articles about the affair, including paparazzi photographs of Harrison taken without her knowledge near her Melbourne home.
Catlin told the court Harrison was still owed $242,500 by Seven, which had broken its agreements with her.
“She has respected the confidentiality while not being paid the price,” Caitlin said.
