Ronci v Nationwide News Pty Ltd

Tina Rosa Ronci sued Nationwide News Pty Ltd in the Supreme Court of Western Australia over a defamatory article published in the Sunday Times. The plaintiff sought to amend her statement of claim to assert that the article implied she had killed her husband, or that she caused a third party to kill him, or that she was suspected on reasonable grounds of killing him. The defendant opposed the application on the grounds of delay and that the plaintiff's pleaded imputations were untenable or groundless. The court held that the plaintiff's delay was not so inexcusable as to warrant refusing the application, but that paragraph 4 of the proposed new statement of claim should be struck out as it was surplusage. The court found that the plaintiff's proposed imputations were not obviously untenable or groundless, as the article arguably implied that the plaintiff's conduct had given rise to a reasonable suspicion that she had killed her husband. The plaintiff was granted leave to amend her statement of claim in the terms sought, subject to further orders.