Meninga returns to centre stage
- By Natasha Wallace
November 22, 2005
It is a case which has rolled out the big guns in business, sport and law, while airing the kind of dirty laundry normally reserved for a
Jerry Springer episode. Or a current affairs program.
Yesterday the former rugby league player Mal Meninga flew up from Canberra for a testimonial. Already, in a week of hearings, the NSW Supreme Court had heard from the rugby league boss Steve Rogers, the broadcaster Alan Jones, and the former NSW Liberal Party leader Kerry Chikarovski.
In one corner is the rugby league international Mark McGaw, 41, who is seeking compensation after being defamed by
Today Tonight, which alleged that he repeatedly bashed a woman, his former Bellevue Hill flatmate and business manager, Louise Boucheron.
In the other, is Tom Hughes, QC, the former federal attorney-general, who is leading the fight for the Seven Network against a potential multi-million-dollar payout.
A jury has found Mr McGaw was defamed, and Mr Hughes must establish the defence that the allegations are true.
Yesterday Ms Boucheron, who has changed her surname to Reed, told the court that during an argument in Mr McGaw's Mercedes she began to "panic" when he drove up an "isolated street" alongside Queens Park.
"I said, 'Mark, pull over the car, I want to get out, pull over the car, or I'm going to jump out'. I was getting afraid," she said.
In June 2003 he pleaded guilty to assaulting her - dragging her out of the car - and was put on a 12-month good behaviour bond, but maintains he did not hit her.
Their versions of events, and the kind of relationship they shared, differ markedly.
Ms Boucheron told the court that after the car incident she "fell" onto the footpath and Mr McGaw "held me down and hit me and hit me". On another occasion during an argument, she said, that he "picked me up off the ground and threw me on the footpath and started hitting and kicking me".
She also said the pair had an "open", sexual relationship, which he denies. They went to out-of-town weddings together and stayed in a motel at Terrigal and again for the Melbourne Cup, she said.
Mr Meninga told the court that Mr McGaw was respected both on and off the field and he was surprised by the allegations in the TV interview, for which Ms Boucheron was allegedly paid $10,000.
"I couldn't fathom whether he would do these sorts of things
I just shrugged my shoulders and said perhaps it's right," Mr Meninga said.
"Mark was a fierce competitor, very intense on the football field but certainly a great player. Off the field he was a fantastic bloke."
The hearing continues.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/meninga-returns-to-centre-stage/2005/11/21/1132421603603.html
