Melbourne underworld veteran Mick Gatto's bid for retribution against the ABC has failed, with a judge ruling he was not defamed by the public broadcaster.
Mr Gatto sued the ABC for defamation over a February 2019 article which he says implied he was a hitman and murderer who had threatened to kill snitching gangland barrister turned police informer Nicola Gobbo.
He said he initially only wanted an apology, but when that was not forthcoming he sought retribution in form of the "maximum payout" he could get.
But Victorian Supreme Court Justice Andrew Keogh on Friday quashed any payout hopes, ruling the ABC and journalists Nino Bucci and Sarah Farnsworth had not defamed him.
The article - which reported on statements made by others during legal proceedings - was "entirely accurate", the judge ruled.
Mr Gatto's barrister David Klempfner said the article had implied Mr Gatto was one of Australia's most violent criminals who had been involved in the unsolved murder of fruiterer Frank Benvenuto in 2000 and the murder of Victor Peirce in 2002.
Justice Keogh found it was understandable Mr Gatto would be unhappy about the publication of those "seriously" defamatory statements that had been made in the course of legal hearings, but said the ABC had not implied they were true.
"To the contrary, it carefully recorded that they were no more than allegations that had been made in the course of the proceedings," he said.
Justice Keogh described Mr Gatto as "newsworthy and a legitimate subject of public interest".
At most the article had implied no more than reasonable grounds to suspect Mr Gatto had threatened to kill Ms Gobbo and had been investigated - or there were reasonable grounds to investigate him, in relation so the murders of Mr Peirce and Mr Benvenuto.
Justice Keogh said there was a "gulf" between the article's imputations and the ones Mr Gatto claimed.
Mr Gatto gave evidence in the defamation proceedings in the Supreme Court last year, saying he was sick of hearing about gangland connections.
He admitted running in circles with dangerous and violent men including hitman Benji Veniamin - who he killed in self-defence in 2004 - and other underworld figures including Alphonse Gangitano, Mario Condello and Lewis Caine.
But he described them as "gentlemen" and said his circle of friends also included politicians, lawyers, high-end builders and unionists.
"Very, very rarely do (the media) write an article about me saying 'colourful businessman'. I'm sick of it," Mr Gatto said.
Mr Gatto reached a confidential settlement with The Daily Mail last year over similar comments, accepting an apology and "significant" payout which included $55,000 in legal fees.
