Broadcaster Alan Jones and Macquarie Media radio stations 2GB and 4BC have lost a defamation case and been ordered to pay $3.74 million in damages to the Wagner family in Toowoomba, Queensland.
In statement responding to the ruling, Macquarie Media CEO Adam Lang said Jones, 2GB and 4BC would consider their appeal options.
Jones added: "I do feel that I have somehow let down the people of the Lockyer Valley who sought my assistance.
"As the judge found in this case, I sought to ventilate concerns expressed to me by those people.
"I am restrained in what I can say because I am now subject to injunctions and will be making no further comment."
Supreme Court judge Justice Peter Flanagan found Jones had broadcast defamatory allegations in 27 broadcasts in 2014 and 2015 relating to the 2011 Grantham floods.
The allegations blame the Wagners for the deaths of 12 people, including two children, when the family’s quarry wall collapsed.
Jones also alleged the Wagner brothers had illegally built an airport and stolen airspace from a nearby army base.
In a 250-word judgement, the judge said Jones was trying to harm the Wagners reputation in “vicious and spiteful” attacks.
In handing down his ruling, Justice Flanagan noted the anxiety caused by ‘gut-wrenching and ‘humiliating’ bullying.
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