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Stephen Dank - Jon Mannah

Messages
14,121
Link
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...imal-compensation-lawyer-20160315-gnjj66.html

SMH said:
Sports scientist Stephen Dank should receive the bare minimum in damages over an article that suggested he injected Cronulla NRL players with the blood thinner warfarin because a jury also found he did "much, much worse", a court has heard.
A civil trial jury of three men and one woman on Tuesday handed down the final piece of their verdict in the defamation case brought by Dank over a series of articles in the Sunday Telegraph and the Daily Telegraph.
The NSW Supreme Court jury found on Monday that Dank had acted with "reckless indifference" to NRL player Jon Mannah's life by giving him dangerous peptides that may have accelerated his death from cancer.
Mannah made his debut for Cronulla in 2011 and died two years later aged 23, after his Hodgkin's lymphoma relapsed.
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Although jurors agreed Dank had established that the meanings conveyed by articles by Josh Massoud, James Hooper and Rebecca Wilson were defamatory, the jury also found those meanings were substantially true.
Another article by Yoni Bashan did not convey the meanings complained of by Dank, the jury found.
Justice Lucy McCallum on Tuesday ordered that Dank pay the defendants' costs in the legal battle over those articles.
But a 2013 article that claimed Dank gave warfarin to Cronulla footballers was defamatory, the jury declared.
The jurors found that Sunday Telegraph editor Mick Carroll and journalist Phil Rothfield had failed to make their defence of "contextual truth".
Tom Blackburn SC, acting for newspaper publisher Nationwide News, has urged Justice McCallum to award only nominal damages to Dank over the warfarin article because, he said, the jury had accepted Dank was involved in "much, much worse than the administration of warfarin".
"He's not to be compensated, in our submission, as if we had said of him in a complete vacuum that he had administered a dangerous substance, that is, warfarin, to football players," Blackburn told the judge.
"He administered much more dangerous substances, cumulatively, than warfarin - in one case, [he administered substances] which caused the death, or hastened the death, I should say, of a player aged 23 years old."
Justice McCallum is expected to hand down her decision as early as this week.

I always thought it, but now someone in the legal profession has said it. So f**king Angry this grub has done such serious damage to Codes and Lives.
 

^b0ss^

Juniors
Messages
1,369
Wow just wow "which caused the death, or hastened the death, I should say, of a player aged 23 years old."

Surely if a supreme court rules that he has hastened the death of a person by administering dangerous peptides with "reckless indifference" that is a case for the mannah family to sue.?
 

phantom eel

First Grade
Messages
6,327
from above said:
Although jurors agreed Dank had established that the meanings conveyed by articles by Josh Massoud, James Hooper and Rebecca Wilson were defamatory, the jury also found those meanings were substantially true.
Well that's one good way to lose your defamation case.

What a grub.
 

phantom eel

First Grade
Messages
6,327
Wow just wow "which caused the death, or hastened the death, I should say, of a player aged 23 years old."

Surely if a supreme court rules that he has hastened the death of a person by administering dangerous peptides with "reckless indifference" that is a case for the mannah family to sue.?
Just pointing out that's only the legal rep for News Ltd's words at the moment, not the Justice deciding the case.

But yep, if teh court rules that way that would be pretty heavy stuff.
 

emjaycee

Coach
Messages
12,868
Just pointing out that's only the legal rep for News Ltd's words at the moment, not the Justice deciding the case.

But yep, if teh court rules that way that would be pretty heavy stuff.

And this bit:

The NSW Supreme Court jury found on Monday that Dank had acted with "reckless indifference" to NRL player Jon Mannah's life by giving him dangerous peptides that may have accelerated his death from cancer.
 

emjaycee

Coach
Messages
12,868
Yep, it's great (in terms of clearly apportioning responsibility to Dank) the jury found that way... just up to the judge to deliver the final decision now/soon.

I think as this is a defamation case, the judge would only be delivering a decision on the amount of damages... not the decision itself which was the role of the jury.
 

phantom eel

First Grade
Messages
6,327
Sure, but can the judge make the decsion to refer Dank to the DPP for prosecution, as a result of the jury's finding?

Or confirm the jury's finding to pave the way for a potential civil case?
 

Last Week

Bench
Messages
3,642
Sure, but can the judge make the decsion to refer Dank to the DPP for prosecution, as a result of the jury's finding?

No not quite. Pretty much, if any criminal charges were to be brought against Dank or the Cronulla club, it would be along the lines of malpractice. In order to prove that, it would require a lengthy investigation by the Police and would likely need a kick start by the Coroner. It would be very difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt without a confession I'd say.

In my opinion, due to the high profile nature of the entire thing, it is possible that an investigation into Jon being given said substances, may be worth it in the public interest. But the people that need to be thought of first and foremost are the Mannah family. They would need to request an inquest into it. Judging from what I've seen of his family, I'd imagine that they'd rather just let Jon rest.
 
Messages
12,134
yikes imagine being a sharks player and finding out you've been injected with a potential carcinogen or something that could accelerate any cancers you might have already
 

strider

Post Whore
Messages
78,603
is it possible the sharks club themselves might sue dank for malpractice?

They could be walking a tightrope if there is anything Dank has to prove anyone at the club had any idea what he was doing ... and alternatively they would probably come out being negligent for not knowing
 

muznik

Juniors
Messages
995
I was under the impression that this was denied by the Mannah family when it first came out?

Something along the lines of Jon had already been diagnosed & knew what he could & couldn't take. That left me thinking that Jon didn't participate in the program for that reason. Maybe my recollection is wrong.

I would expect a media statement from the Mannah family regarding this finding & if he did participate, than they should pursue this grub.
 

El Diablo

Post Whore
Messages
94,107
I was under the impression that this was denied by the Mannah family when it first came out?

Something along the lines of Jon had already been diagnosed & knew what he could & couldn't take. That left me thinking that Jon didn't participate in the program for that reason. Maybe my recollection is wrong.

I would expect a media statement from the Mannah family regarding this finding & if he did participate, than they should pursue this grub.

they did http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-26/mannahs-family-refutes-cancer-peptides-link/4653924

Mannah's family refutes peptides cancer link

Updated April 26, 2013 18:42:47

The family of Jon Mannah have refuted reports linking peptides administered to the deceased rugby league player and his death from cancer.

Mannah died in January from Hodgkin's lymphoma aged 23, and was first diagnosed with the illness in 2009.

A News Limited article alleges the Cronulla Sharks' independent report into the club's doping scandal has raised concerns about an "identified causal link" between peptides and Mannah's relapse into cancer.

But Jon Mannah's brother Tim has released a statement saying the family is "disappointed" by the reports and that Jon would never have consented to taking banned substances.

"On behalf of my family, I would like to say how disappointed we all are by the reports that have been published today," Mannah said in a statement.

"My brother Johnny was a wonderful man and never, ever would have knowingly consented to taking a banned substance.

"In fact, he was very careful about everything he did that may affect his health.

"Johnny's integrity in the way he lived his life speaks for itself. We have no need to defend that."

Tim Mannah also said he and his family wanted to offer its support to former Cronulla conditioner Trent Elkin.

"Trent has had a long and trusted relationship with me, my brother and our family, and what has transpired over the last day has not changed that," Mannah said.

"We know Trent does not condone the use of illegal substances and would have never knowingly done anything that would cause one of his players or Jon for that matter harm."

'Absolute disgrace'

The Parramatta Eels playing group has also released a statement slamming media coverage of the Mannah story.

"In all parts of life there are boundaries, lines in the sand that everyone understands. It is our belief that the Daily Telegraph today crossed that line," the players said in a statement on the Eels' website.

"To put the Mannah family through what they have in the last 24 hours is an absolute disgrace and those responsible should be ashamed of themselves.

"We as a playing group will be rallying around Timmy, his family and Trent Elkin. They are our team-mates, our family and this will only make our bonds stronger."

The statement said that Parramatta would not be making further comment on the matter.

The club has been at the centre of an investigation into the use of prohibited substances by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).

The Sharks have handed the report, compiled by ex-ASADA deputy chairwoman Tricia Kavanagh, over to ASADA and the NRL.

Prominent sports medicine practitioner Peter Larkins says there is limited evidence of the link between cancer growth and peptides but it is a very serious allegation.

"The peptide hormones talked about in sport are designed to improve cell metabolism and growth products in the body, that's why they're used to cheating in sport," he said.

"Then it simply says to me that you'd be very, very unwise to consider using that in a patient that already has the process of uncontrolled cell growth."

ABC/AAP

you would think his family would know him better than strangers on a jury
 
Messages
13,874
So this so called doctor didn't know that this cell growth accelerator would also cause cancer cells to grow faster?
He should go to gaol.
 

Gronk

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
73,539
So this so called doctor didn't know that this cell growth accelerator would also cause cancer cells to grow faster?
He should go to gaol.

Horrific if true.

Not sure that the family would want to pursue the wrongful death thing. IIRC the report is that it "hastened" Jon's death. Such a case would be very traumatic and undo a lot of the healing.
 

phantom eel

First Grade
Messages
6,327
But the people that need to be thought of first and foremost are the Mannah family. They would need to request an inquest into it. Judging from what I've seen of his family, I'd imagine that they'd rather just let Jon rest.
Fair enough.
I would expect a media statement from the Mannah family regarding this finding & if he did participate, than they should pursue this grub.
I wouldn't expect the Mannah family need to make any statement. It's good that this grub has now got his just desserts (well, presumably bankruptcy), and as others have said the family can be left alone to continue their healing.

Good game by Tim Mannah incidently tonight - loved the way he steamrolled over Kasiano and didn't take a backward step despite the head clash.
 

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