Category Archives: AVOcourt

Background
A few years ago Meryl Dorey, then president of the notorious Australian Vaccination Network made an attempt to bully me into silence by filing vexatious litigation against me in the hope that I would cease criticising her on my website. Needless to say her attempt failed and not only did she pay my entire legal costs but also further expose herself as a scoundrel.

I have documented the case here under the category/topic “AVOcourt”. Posts on this website are always displayed in reverse chronological order so that the newest post appears at the top. However if you are reading about this from the beginning you can Click Here to display posts in chronological order.

Meryl Doreys ongoing war on health

For the past 17 years Meryl Dorey has been waging a war against public health in Australia. She is the Founder, President and Spokesperson for the Australian Vaccination Network. Despite its name the Australian Vaccination Network is actually an anti-vaccination pressure group that bullies and harasses anyone attempting to protect the community from vaccine preventable disease.

I first crossed paths with Meryl Dorey and the AVN when she decided to come to Perth in 2010 to spread her misinformation. Having already had one venue cancel on her she now set sights on the state library  as the new venue to spread her misinformation. Fearing that the library might cancel their talk Meryl Dorey asked all the subscribers to her newsletter to email the library and urge them not to cancel the talk. She also asked that she have all correspondence sent to the library cc’d to her; obviously some form of ego boosting.  So I sent the library an email  informing them of the harmful misinformation that the Australian Vaccination Network was intending to spread in their venue. As requested I also cc’d the email to Meryl so she could see what I said to the library about her. I believe this action was the start of her loathing towards me.

I also attended her talk at the state library and wrote about it briefly here. I found out later that my presence didn’t go unnoticed. In fact Meryl seemed to be quite upset about having Skeptics present at her talk and decided that we were to blame for increased security measures at the state library.

Buzzard, I was perfectly well aware of your presence and that of your 2 little friends as well.

The library excluded the television cameras – not us. They said that due to the threats they had received from people you associate with, no media were allowed at the seminar.

We welcomed cameras and welcomed your presence too. We hoped that if more people are able to access information from both sides of this issue, they would be better able to make an informed choice about vaccination for their children and for themselves.

Remember Buzzard-you Skeptics are the ones trying to deny others access to both sides of this debate-not the AVN.

Oh, also, we had to pay an extra $100 to the library for extra security due to the threat posed by the Skeptics. Maybe, since you Skeptics are responsible for that expense, you might have one less case of beer this week and instead, donate the funds to the AVN to make up for the extra expense you’ve caused us?

On second thought however, don’t bother. You’ve done our cause a great favour. Because of all the extra publicity due to your group’s ravings, instead of just talking to 100 people in some quiet little church hall, we spoke to twice that many in a gorgeous venue at the state library and have at least that many again who have already expressed interest in our next seminar in Perth so-well done and we’ll call it even.

I do want to ask you though, while we are on this subject, How does it feel to be associated with a group of bullies who force organisations like the State Library and the AVN to have to hire protection just to enable us to exercise our right to free speech? Does it feel good to belong to the thought Gestapo? To be associated with the anti-democracy SS?

Lastly,we have taped the entire seminar and will be publishing it free of charge on the Internet so watch this space. If your own recording was not of good quality, you are free to listen to ours.

Yours in health,
Meryl

Then all of a sudden the Australian Vaccination Network was brought into the spotlight  thanks to a complaint lodged with the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission by Ken McLeod. The HCCC conducted an investigation  into the AVN. The HCCC found:

by the Health Care Complaints Commission under section 94A of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993

The Health Care Complaints Commission has investigated two complaints about the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), a non-profit organisation registered in New South Wales that provides information about vaccination. The complaints alleged that the AVN provides incorrect and misleading information about vaccination.

The Commission’s investigation of the complaints focussed on the material presented by the AVN on its website www.avn.org.au.

The Commission’s investigation established that the AVN website:

  • provides information that is solely anti-vaccination
  • contains information that is incorrect and misleading
  • quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous.

On this basis, the Commission recommended to the AVN that it should include a statement in a prominent position on its website to the following effect:

  • The AVN’s purpose is to provide information against vaccination, in order to balance what it believes is the substantial amount of pro-vaccination information available elsewhere.
  • The information provided by the AVN should not be read as medical advice.
  • The decision about whether or not to vaccinate should be made in consultation with a health care provider.

The Commission recognises that it is important for there to be debate on the issue of vaccination. However, the AVN provides information that is inaccurate and misleading.

The AVN’s failure to include a notice on its website of the nature recommended by the Commission may result in members of the public making improperly informed decisions about whether or not to vaccinate, and therefore poses a risk to public health and safety.

Health Care Complains Commission; NSW

This resulted in the HCCC issuing an official warning against this public health menace. The result of this public health warning was an immediate media backlash against the AVN who were now seen for what they are; a menace to society. With so many media agencies now turning their back on the Australian Vaccination Network, Meryl now went on the offensive and began accusing accusing the media of going on a Witch Hunt.

But it wasn’t over, not by a long shot. Now that the true nature of the AVN and its president was known the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing began to question the legitimacy of the AVNs charity status. It didn’t take long for them to discover the uncharitable nature of the organisation and as a result their license to fundraise was revoked ; a fantastic victory for community health.

A CONTROVERSIAL NSW-based anti-vaccination group has been stripped of its charitable status after the state government found its appeals had not been conducted in good faith.

The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) was ordered in July to publish a disclaimer on its website stating the group was anti-vaccination and its material shouldn’t be read as medical advice.

On Thursday, the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) revoked the group’s charitable status on the grounds it had failed to publish the disclaimer as recommended by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). Herald Sun

Then in January of 2011 Meryl Dorey likened vaccination to child rape.

According to Meryl Dorey if you vaccinate your child then you’re a rapist. This is coming from an organisation that claims to be a “charity”.

Meryl Dorey later retuned to Perth. However I didn’t attend this second time. But I was interested to learn the the AVN had engaged in illegal fundraising while over here. Did she think no one would notice if she came to the other side of the country?

During the recent AVN tour of Western Australia, the Caravan of Carnage, Meryl Dorey was handing out flyers. The flyers include details of how one can “donate” to, and/or “become a member” of, the AVN. That these flyers were handed out is a demonstrable fact. We have one. Reasonable Hank

On par with her Vaccine Rape claim Meryl posted a link of Facebook to an article that calls for the murder  of personnel at the Centres for Disease Control. Again this is from an organisation that claims to be a “charity”.

What an upstanding member of the community.

Meryl Dorey later decided she would speak at the Woodford Folk Festival and once more she asked her subscribers to write to the festival organisers to ensure that she wouldn’t be cancelled. So of course I wrote to the festival to ask them to reconsider giving this public health menace a platform. Once again I included Mery in the cc field.

The AVN sent out a very amusing newsletter criticising her critics. Fair enough but what I found most amusing was her criticism of me.

Their attitude towards religion is every bit as intolerant as it is

towards those who want to make informed vaccination choices. From Dan Buzzard in WA who has a web page entitled Everybody Draw Mohammed which features pictures of the prophet Mohammed doing obscene things and totally denigrating Islam to stating the following about the

Catholic church:

 

Daniel Buzzard 27.3.11 – Fuck the Catholic Church. Who dares me to walk into the Church service with these?

The signs I wanted to take into the church.

Apparently I made some rude remarks about paedophiles, although I am not surprised that an anti-vaxxer would complain about that considering they oppose childhood vaccinations.

Equally funny is Meryl Dorey complaining about having to comply with government regulations

The real villains here are those members of the Australian Skeptics and Stop the AVN who – though they themselves have not been harmed by any of these products, by any of this information or by any of these remedies – intentionally waste the public’s time, money and expertise by pursuing vexatious and absolutely ridiculous complaints. The Skeptics have worked out a way to rort the system by using current legislation to victimise those who they disagree with. And the ones who lose out when this sort of fraud is perpetrated by a group that opposes freedom of choice and speech are the Australian taxpayers. -Meryl Dorey, 28 April 2012nocompulsoryvaccination.com

What sort of “charity” fears government regulators? Well the Australian Vaccination Network for one.

Of course this amount of criticism has over time has prompted Meryl Dorey to go on the offensive. While her critics use only words to address her nonsense, it seems Merl is prepared to go to any length to avoid criticism. That includes committing Perjury in the United States by submitting false complaints under the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act to have her critics post removed from US based service providers, such as Facebook.

She also engaged in a childish revenge activity of registering a similar name to the Australian Skeptics. Honestly this is the type of activity that could be expected from a child; not a “charity” organisation. However this did provide me with an opportunity to report her  to yet another government regulator.

Another attempt to silence Skeptics was made by supporters of the AVN. It would appear the supporters have been falsely reporting Skeptic websites as malware in order to get them blocked by consumer level security software. Fortunately this activity does limited temporary damage, but it’s still an inconvenience to deal with and shows just how desperate AVN supports are to supress information.
I had a new attack was launched against me recently where the Anti-vaxxers go through my Facebook profile and start reporting my posts as abusive. Since Facebook is an automated system no human is involved in the processing of these complaints and I was subsequently banned from Facebook for 24hrs.

That’s right those two innocent posts got me banned from all of Facebook for 24hours. The posts were on a Skeptics Facebook page, but obviously they where seen by either Meryl Dorey or one of her supporters. I should point out again that this can be done by anyone without any oversight from Facebook.

Now Meryl Dorey has launched a fresh series of attack against her critics by setting up a “Dossier of Attacks on the AVN”  where she and her followers criticise her critics. Clearly she is upset by the honesty of her critics; which is why I sent her the Butthurt Report Form. It’s quite pathetic since the most serious offence any of us seem to commit is that we might be rude at times. Quite tame compared to the war she’s be raging against community health all these years. Not to mention the crime of Perjury (false DMCA) she’s been committing in the United States just to silence us.

Now another new attack has emerged this week. In a desperate attempt to silence criticism Mery Dorey is now applying for Apprehended Violence Order against her critics. Of the three applications she’s made one of them is against me. The application is being made in a NSW court, thousands of kilometres away. Not only has Meryl Dorey chosen to file so far away from me but she is also doing it in secret without summoning me to defend myself. I only found out about her application due to a tip-off. Although this type of underhanded tactic doesn’t come as any surprise, I’ve come to expect such actions from dubious individuals. This action is especially ironic comeing from a woman who makes her living from fear and intimidation.

I don’t believe in litigation against anyone just for their words. Because the best weapon against speech is more speech. That’s why the only tools I ever use against Meryl Dorey, The Australian Vaccination Network and other distasteful persons or organisation are only words. So while I would never sue anyone for their words if Meryl wishes to engage in actions beyond words, then I see nothing wrong with pursuing civil action for recovery of legal costs to deal with her nonsense in court.

I have no doubt that Meryl Dorey will continue attacking community health, her critics and anyone who tries to benefit the community. Examination of the Australian Vaccination Networks financial records, show that she makes a comfortable living from her dishonest activities. Finance Report

The missing summons.

Yesterday the Police came to my door to deliver a summons for court in NSW. The summons, delivered on the 25th is for a court hearing on the 27th. That’s 48 hours in which to prepare a defence and travel to the other side of the country. Prior to this I had no idea what the grounds for the application were. Needless to say I won’t be in court for the mention, but I will certainly attend the later hearing which is when the real action takes place. I’ve already written to the court to notify them of my intent (even before getting the official summons).

Not only did the summons arrive late but it was also sent to the wrong address as I live nowhere near Attadale. You can’t just pick names out of the phone book and decide that’s where you want to send a summons. While anti-vaxxers aren’t known for their accuracy this type of failure suggests that there was never a “Private Investigator” involved, either that or Meryl went with the cheapest she could find. In either case an inaccuracy of more than 30 kilometers is hardly the work of professionals.

I wonder what the court would make of this 48 hour notification.

The two orders she’s seeking are. (my scanner broke)

1. The defendant must not approach or contact the protected persons by any means whatsoever except through the defendants legal representative.

2. The defendant must not mention the applicant in any online forum in any derogatory manner.

I’m guessing she had to choose #1 just to make the application look legitimate. Not an easy task considering we’ve never met in person, and to my knowledge only been in the same building once during a seminar in 2010. Or perhaps those 4 (polite) emails in 3 years really got to her.

However #2 is an option that she was able to write in, under “other”. No doubt she’s tired of the criticism on this blog. Perhaps if she would stop doing dishonest things then I might not have anything to criticise her for.

The strange email.

Meryl Dorey has launched a fresh round of baseless accusations against her critics. A few days ago I received an email via tormail.org from someone claiming to be anonymous. Offering to “fuckup those cunts cyber style” referring to the Australian Vaccination Network. Normally when I receive emails like this I decline the offer and delete the email. This time was no different.

—–Original Message—–
From: Dan Buzzard
Sent: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 8:17 AM
To: ‘fantasticfox5@tormail.org’
Subject: RE: meryl dorey

Hi,

While I appreciate your desire to stop these low lives I could never support the actions you propose.

Shutting down the AVN requires us to keep our footing firmly planted on the moral high ground, so I must decline your offer to “fuckup those cunts cyber style”.

Have a nice day.

~Dan

—–Original Message—–

From: fantasticfox5@tormail.org [mailto:fantasticfox5@tormail.org]

Sent: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 8:02 AM

To: headreptilian@skep.li

Subject: meryl dorey

nice collection of docs. want me to fuckup those cunts cyber style?

they wont know what hit ’em. i can hack their website with sql injection too. plaster it with all sorts. they lose audiance who are offended by wat i post. its how we operate. i could also organize one of our many botnets to take em down with ddos.

just ask if you need help

We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

I thought nothing more of the email until an hour later when I spotted a post on the AVN Facebook wall complaining about a threat they’d received from a tormail.org user. I notice the signature is exactly the same as the email I received. So perhaps it came from the same person. So I made the email public as I don’t support such activities regardless of who they target.

Of course Meryl Dorey in her infinite wisdom has decided to blame me for it. This seems to be a hobby of hers.

Who is the real perpetrator?
Dan Buzzard, one of the SAVN members I am currently pursuing an AVO against because of his incitement to others to send violent pornographic images to me (do you see a pattern here?) and his constant threats and cyberbullying, has been very active on a forum frequented by those who say they are associated with the hacker group, Anonymous. Remember, the person who sent me these threats and who posted the pornography claims to be a member of Anonymous. Meryl Dorey

Actually I have never incited anyone to send pornography to Meryl or anyone else. Nor have I ever issued a threat of physical harm to anyone. Meryl’s issue with me revolves around several complaints that I’ve lodged with government departments. Of course that would make her look bad so she feels compelled to make up lies which sound better.

I’m not 100% sure what forum she’s talking about but it might be http://whyweprotest.net in which case her definition of “very active” would be 5 posts in 4 years. Not to mention the fact that it isn’t a hacker forum as she claims. In fact I am frequently opposed to Anonymous “Hackivists” as anyone who checks my older posts would find out. However not to be deterred by facts Meryl continues:

But back to Dan Buzzard. As I said, he was involved with inciting hatred against myself and the AVN on a forum comprised of known hackers. Is it any wonder then that about an hour before I received my email (quoted above), the same person wrote to Dan Buzzard (please see below)

Buzzard must have been pretty concerned about being contacted by this nut-job. This probably was not the outcome he expected because he posted the person’s letter (and his response to them) on his website and claimed that he felt it was his ethical duty to do so. Meryl Dorey

When some coward is using the internet to issue an anonymous death threat, disclosure of correspondence is the right step to take. Of course I’m not surprised that Meryl cannot recognise ethical behaviour right in front of her.

Buzzard expects me to believe that this person just selected his email address at random – that he stuck his cyber-finger into an online phone book and lo and behold, Buzzard’s name popped out. But I’m not that naive. Meryl Dorey

Well the email wasn’t specifically addressed to me and if you check the email address you’ll see it was sent to “headreptillian” an email address that currently appears on http://www.bigpharma.com.au and is then redirected to me; I am certainly not known by that address. Whether the sender knew (or cared) who would receive the email is another thing. I don’t know how many other people received the same email but choose to remain silent, perhaps to avoid baseless accusations.

I think his posting this information had more to do with his fear of being implicated in this crime then it did with any ethics or caring about what happened to someone who he considers to be an ‘anti-vax liar’ as he so often likes to refer to me. But he IS implicated and so are his compatriots. Meryl Dorey

Actually if I were concerned I wouldn’t publish it. I find this all very suspicious as the email seems to be a little too convenient for Meryl and the AVN. Is it possible that someone from within the AVN sent the email as bait to see if I would write an incriminating reply? Clearly any such plan failed as it suggests actions that I frequently oppose. While I can’t prove the source of the anonymous email its nature and convenient timing makes me very suspicious of its origin and purpose. I personally suspect a False Flag operation, but unlike an anti-vaxxer I won’t assert mere suspician as fact without evidence.

Legal Victory Meryl Dorey's gag order failed..

On Thursday I successfully defended an attempt by Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network to have me silenced on the Internet. 

The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) has been trying to silence its critics for a number of years now. So it come as no surprise that the president of the Australian Vaccination Network would eventually file Strategic Lawsuit Agaist Public Participation (SLAPP) suits against critics in an effort to silence them. What did come as a surprise was the choice of legislation. Back in September of 2012 Meryl Dorey chose to file applications for Apprehended Violence Orders (AVO) against myself and two other critics of the AVN.

(Note: During the 11 months between the lodgement of the application and Todays hearing Ms Dorey resigned as president of the AVN).

Ms Doreys application requested that the following orders be made:

1. The defendant must not approach or contact the protected persons by any means whatsoever except through the defendants legal representative.

2. The defendant must not mention the applicant in any online forum in any derogatory manner.

Although Ms Dorey lodged the applications in her personal capacity the intent of this litigation is clear.

Spot the applicant Meryl Dorey or The AVN?

The AVN has been hitting back at it’s critics for a number of years now. The AVN and their supporters employ the following tactics against critics:

  1. False DMCA reports.
  2. False reporting of critics websites to anti-virus vendors.
  3. Threatening Politicians.
  4. Harassing, abusing, vilifying Grieving Families.
  5. Impersonating critics websites (badly).
  6. Spamming, email bombarding Members of Parliament.
  7. Calling Doctors and Courts peadophiles.
  8. Accused a mobile health service of kidnapping kids off the street.
  9. Abusing Facebooks report feature to get critics banned.
  10. Withholding Financial Reports from the department of Fair Trading.
  11. Advocating the use of violence against critics.
  12. Contacting Civil Rights groups and failing to spot the irony.
  13. Promoting a fake church to dodge the law.
  14. Lying to fair trading, and it’s not even a very good lie.
  15. Bullying Doctors.
  16. Calling their critics terrorists. 

So a SLAPP suit is perfectly in line with the AVN and Meryl Doreys standard operating procedures. The timeline of events is as follows:

5th September 2012: Meryl Dorey files her application in a Ballina local court.

14th September 2012: Peter Bowditch notifies me that my name has appeared in the court registry.

20th September 2012: Meryl Dorey goes on public radio to brag about her AVO applications.

25th September 2012: I receive a summons to appear in a court 4,500km in two days time.

27th September 2012: First mention which I am not party to. Meryl Dorey publically announces on the Australian Vaccination Network website that she has scored a legal victory against her critics.

15th November 2012: Second mention. Application to move the proceeding to Lismore local court which has video link facilities.

10th December 2012: Third mention. I am in Paris when I receive a phone call from my lawyer telling me that the magistrate in Lismore does not appear impressed with the applications.

15th January 2013: Fourth mention. The matter is referred to mediation.

6th Febuary 2013: Meryl Dorey fails to attend mediation.

20th Febuary 2013: Meryl Dorey attends mediation, announces her displeasure at the letter I sent to Greg Beattie. Mediation falls apart.

12th March 2013: Fifth mention. A hearing date is set for the 24th May.

26th April 2013: Meryl Dorey loses her AVO case against Peter Bowditch.

21st May 2013: Meryl Dorey submits application for the magistrate to be disqualified. Application is granted in chambers.

24th May 2013: Was a hearing, now the sixth mention. New hearing and new magistrate set for 22nd August.

19th August 2013: An offer is made to Ms Dorey to drop the case and pay smaller legal fees than she will have to if we go to court. She declines.

22nd August 2013: I receive an email from my lawyer at 4:12am containing documents that Meryl Dorey wishes to use in court. We know Ms Dorey likes to file things at the very last minute but this is surely taking the piss. I print the documents out and bring them to court anyway.

 

1. Ms Dorey included a screenshot of some pornography (“Cunt of the year” award) that she alleges was sent to her, no doubt her intention was to blame me for it despite the fact that she has had it since at least 2011, but claims that a message I sent in 2012 incited people to send her porn. I do not believe that anyone involved with SAVN has ever sent Ms Dorey pornographic material. There is no evidence to suggest that anything I have posted on the internet has ever caused anyone to act unlawfully towards Ms Dorey or the AVN.

 

2. On 25th of September 2012 I received an email from fantasticfox5@tormail.org offering to “fuckup those cunts cyber style” to which I politly declined thinking nothing more of it until I saw a post on the AVN facebook wall complaining about a death threat that appeard to be from the same user.

From: fantasticfox5@tormail.org
Subject: flu-reactions
Date: 25 September 2012 10:09:12 AM AEST
To: meryl@avn.org.au
meryl be warned we’re coming for you. and you will be sorry you filthy
baby killer. sharpening the knives now.
We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us.

As you can see it is quite a nasty email so I decided to publicly disclose my earlier correspondence with this individual along with the mail headers that might be used to identify the perpetrator. Below you can see the full exchange of my emails with fantasticfox5@tormail.org. Mail headers here.

—–Original Message—–
From: Dan Buzzard
Sent: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 8:17 AM
To: ‘fantasticfox5@tormail.org’
Subject: RE: meryl dorey

Hi,

While I appreciate your desire to stop these low lives I could never support the actions you propose.

Shutting down the AVN requires us to keep our footing firmly planted on the moral high ground, so I must decline your offer to “fuckup those cunts cyber style”.

Have a nice day.

~Dan

—–Original Message—–

From: fantasticfox5@tormail.org [mailto:fantasticfox5@tormail.org]

Sent: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 8:02 AM

To: headreptilian@skep.li

Subject: meryl dorey

nice collection of docs. want me to fuckup those cunts cyber style?

they wont know what hit ’em. i can hack their website with sql injection too. plaster it with all sorts. they lose audiance who are offended by wat i post. its how we operate. i could also organize one of our many botnets to take em down with ddos.

just ask if you need help

We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

You’ll notice that my reply email does not appear in either of Ms Doreys statements of evidence only the email sent by FantasticFox5. Including the entire dialogue would have weakened her evidence. Ms Dorey’s lawyer engaged in a rather pathetic attempt to try and link me to FantasticFox5.

Ms Dorey is aware that I have an account on WhyWeProtest.net. Her lawyer claimed in court that I am active on this forum. I told him that 5 post in 5 years (4 of them in 2008) hardly counts as ‘active’. I only wish I had submitted a dictionary into evidence. He then proceeded to ask whether or not the forum had a private messaging feature, I acknowledge that it probably does as it’s a standard feature. He then suggests that it is entirely possible that I contacted FantasticFox5 via the forums. Of course he had no evidence to backup this false allegation and the desperation was palpable.

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that FantasticFox5 has anything to do with WhyWeProtest.net the Anonymous brand is widely used across the internet and such a person could have come from any of the thousands of sites sympathetic to the goals of anonymous. I find it highly suspicious that Ms Dorey asserts knowledge of an individual who’s identity is still unknown. It is also suspicious that this email is being used as a major piece of evidence in an AVO Application that precedes it. It’s like telling your insurance company that you need to lodge a claim today because your car gets stolen tomorrow.

I consider the FantasticFox5 allegations to be the most serious of all the material as there is a clear and direct threat. However I think Meryl Dorey, or her supporters likely fabricated this bit of evidence. Then her lawyer lied about it in court.

 

3. On 31st of August 2012 I sent Meryl Dorey a butthurt report form. I originally saw the form posted on the WhyWeProtest.net forum by an anonymous user. Ms Dorey and her lawyer decided to accuse me of being the anonymous poster in their effort to link me to that site. Yet again they had no evidence for any of these accusations, the only name I post under on that forum is ‘CIA_sec‘. So they failed again through lack of evidence. There isn’t much more to say on it but you can read about the time I sent it to Meryl here.

On this forum, a person who calls himself anonymous but who I believe is Dan Buzzard (and the original person who started this thread), posted a copy of a 

form called a Butthurt Report Form. Shortly after posting this (please see below), Dan Buzzard sent me a copy of this form via post to my address. He had taken 

a picture of the envelope addressed to me and posted that to his blog. The only purpose of this letter was to harass and intimidate me. -Meryl Dorey, written statement.

 

4. Meryl Dorey also objected to me calling her a liar and assclown.

Do you see what’s missing from the screenshot of my blog? How about everything except the title and first sentence. Wouldn’t want the court to know that you got called a liar and an assclown for doing something dishonest and potentially unlawful would we? Unfortunately this didn’t get brought up, so I didn’t have a chance to ask what they are hiding. You can see what they didn’t want the court to see here.

 

5. I told the court that if someone is threatening Ms Dorey or sending her pornography then she should file for AVOs against them. What other people choose to do on the internet is nothing to do with me. Ms Dorey’s lawyer argued that I am the only person she can identify with any link to the abuse she’s been receiving. In other words they have no idea who the perpetrator is so they blame me. At one point the magistrate did ask if the person who sent the threatening email was in the court room, they had to admit that the perpetrator wasn’t.

In closing the magistrate read both emails from FantasticFox5, plus my reply email to FantasticFox5 and the two screenshot below.

Let’s not be rude on the internet, right?

So the case came down to these points:

  • Meryl Dorey is upset about things being said on the internet.
  • She alleges that people are sending her porn and death threats.
  • Looking for someone to blame she chooses me. (and Peter Bowditch, Daniel Rafaele)
  • I tell the court that she is lying about receiving pornography and I do not know the identity of FantasticFox5.
  • Dorey and co admit that the perpetrator isn’t in the courtroom.
  • Ms Dorey’s Lawyer tries to draw non-existent link between myself and FantasticFox5, fails miserably.

The end result?

Case dismissed, costs application against Ms Dorey for just over $11,000. The system works.

 The Documents presented in this case are as follows. The more familiar you are with these documents the more you will realise what a baseless and vexatious case this was.

Meryl Dorey also lost an AVO application against Peter Bowditch which you can read about here. A third AVO application against Daniel Raffaele was consented to without admission so long as the gag order was thrown out, which it was. So in the end all three attempts to silence her critics have failed and none of the allegations she has made against any of us have been proven.

Meryl Dorey’s latest cash grab.

avn-news-article-avoAs readers of this blog will know on Thursday 22nd August I scored a legal victory against Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network. Ms Dorey had been seeking an order to have me silenced on the Internet and dragged out the process for nearly a year until I was able to finally have the case dismissed. Ms Dorey was finally ordered to pay $11,187.50 of my legal costs.

Although I received no compensation for the time that I had to spend dealing with this nonsense getting my legal costs recovered was certainly very important because it means Ms Dorey was not able to simply file a vexatious lawsuit and then walk away free of charge.

On the 26th of August the AVN made an announcement on it’s Facebook page.

Ms Dorey quickly resorted to her usual tactic of accusing the courts of being bias against her.

From the beginning, it appeared to me that the magistrate might have already made his decision before we entered the court. The first thing he said to my barrister was that the loser would have to pay costs. It is my understanding that this is not the normal procedure.

The rest of the hearing was no better and though I was able to show that this person had indeed asked people to send me pornography and had posted intimidating mail to me, the magistrate found against me. Meryl Dorey, 26th August 2013

In court it was revealed that Ms Dorey could not identify the person who had sent her the threatening email, or any other abusive material. However since I am amongst the most vocal critics they decided to focus the effort of their lawsuit on me and even admitted this in court.

Ms Dorey was notified by a magistrate back in November 2012 that she would be liable for my costs if she were to lose. So she can’t possibly claim to be surprised by the fact that costs were awarded against her. This is standard procedure, although less common with AVO cases.

You’d expect that having costs awarded against you might serve to discourage vexatious litigation, but nothing is very quite that simple with Ms Dorey. Rather than paying the legal costs out of her own pocket Meryl Dorey decided to go fund raising. After all she does hold a Charity Fund Raising License so why not put it to use?

That legal bill will need to be paid before the 21st of September. As a full-time volunteer for over 20 years, I have virtually no income nor do I have any way to raise these funds. For 20 years, through my involvement with the AVN, I have worked tirelessly to support and inform those who came to me for help. Our organisation was responsible for the introduction of the Conscientious Objection clause which allows families who don’t vaccinate or who vaccinate selectively to access all government entitlements.

Now, it is my turn to ask for your assistance. If you believe in justice, support informed choice and are able to give any amount – no matter how small – to my legal fund to help pay the costs the court has required me to pay, I would be very grateful indeed. Meryl Dorey, 26th August 2013

So how long does it take the Australian Vaccination Network to raise this kind of money?

So the “full-time volunteer for over 20 years, I have virtually no income nor do I have any way to raise these funds.” was able to use a charity fund raising license to secure $11,187.50 in funding to harass people with vexatious litigation in just 24 hours. With that type of income it’s no wonder this organisation fights so hard to avoid closure.

Recently Peter Bowditch another defendant against Ms Doreys vexatious litigation campaign wrote to the Attorney General regarding these AVO applications. Here is part of the response.

Under section 99 of the Act, a court may award costs to the defendant, against an APVO applicant. This provides a further safeguard against vexatious or frivolous applications. However, a court is not to award costs against a police officer who makes an application unless satisfied that the police officer made the application knowing it contained matter that was false or misleading in a material particular.

More at RatBags.com

This supposed “safe guard” clearly fails when the litigant is able to push a court imposed financial penalty onto their own fund raising charity. Besides what sort of charitable purpose does vexatious litigation fall under?

AVN Founder accuses the courts of corruption.

As expected Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network has come out accusing the courts of corruption because they refused to issue orders that myself, Peter Bowditch and Daniel Raffaele be restrained from talking about her on the internet. 

Last year, at the suggestion of police in two NSW jurisdictions, I filed three separate APVOs: against Daniel Raffaele, founder of Stop the AVN (SAVN), Peter Bowditch, committee member of the Australian Skeptics and Dan Buzzard, WA member of SAVN.

I could have filed APVOs against many more SAVN members. So many have threatened and harassed me, as well as inciting others to do me harm, but these were the three whom I considered to be the ‘ringleaders’ – whose abuse and harassment were unremitting. My reasons for taking this action were two-fold

1-    To stop them from continuing their criminal campaign of abuse, harassment and threats against me; and

2-    To send a warning to others that the justice system would protect someone who was being openly abused, harassed and threatened.

1. To date Ms Dorey claims about being harassed and threatened are dubious at best. I still await credible evidence of these claims.

2. I am well aware of Ms Dorey intention to intimidate her critics with these lawsuits. In court I clearly stated that I agree with Ms Dorey taking out AVOs against people who abuse, harass or threaten her. But as I am not one of those people I have to question her motive for naming me in the lawsuit.

I wonder if it had anything to do with the Australian Vaccination Network trying to keep their committee members hidden from the Department of Fair Trading?

Freedom of Information is a wonderful thing.

It is my firmly held belief, based on the evidence from both cases that actually went to trial, that my losses had nothing to do with the evidence presented to the courts. Based on that evidence alone – APVOs should have been granted without question. But both magistrates showed a strong disapproval for the work that I have done for the last 20 years with the AVN and I feel that they were unable to separate Meryl Dorey the mother, woman and victim of institutionalised and long-running abuse, from Meryl Dorey, ex-President of the AVN and vaccine rights advocate.

More lies, the magistrate made it clear that the case had nothing to do with vaccination and was about whether or not Ms Dorey had cause to fear the defendant. In my case despite having an almost 4 year long opposition Ms Dorey simply could not produce any evidence or justification for seeking an AVO against me.

Ms Dorey did present evidence of a death threat sent to her by a user called fantasticfox5@tormail.org but this person has no connection to me other than having emailed me on a single occasion, which can be seen here. I told the court that I think Ms Dorey would be perfectly justified in seeking an order against that individual, but I don’t see how the actions of an unknown third party have anything to do with me.

Just a clarifying note at this point for those who are unaware of my case against Daniel Raffaele: the APVO against him was granted without his making any admissions of wrongdoing even though threatening calls to my home were made from his house in the middle of the night. I was advised to accept these terms rather than going to trial. In retrospect, I think I made the right choice since even with the damning evidence against him, I am unsure that the courts would have granted my application had Raffaele opposed it.

The key phrase here is “Consent without admission” Mr Rafaele consented to the AVO in order to avoid the costly and time consuming proceedure of defending against a vexatious litigant. While I can certainly understand the desire to get the AVO out of the way fast I believe Mr Rafaele made a mistake in consenting to the AVO. Meryl Dorey and current AVN President Greg Beattie continue to make unfounded allegations against Mr Rafaele despite there being no admission to any wrong doing.

When I went to the courthouse last year to make the initial applications, I selected several of the standard orders from the list available (orders which limited the perpetrator’s ability to come near me or enter my property or threaten me). I also asked that they not be allowed to mention me in any online forum in a derogatory manner. At the initial mention in Ballina Courthouse almost a year ago, the magistrate said that he did not have the power to grant the latter order and I agreed to withdraw it. All I was asking the court to do was to prevent them from coming near me or physically threatening me. None of that would in any way ‘silence’ them.

Not true, the purpose of these AVOs was to bully, defame AND silence her critics. I have the documentation that specifically asks that I be silenced on the internet and numerous examples of her defaming the defendants long before the cases even got to court. Her continued defamation of Daniel Rafaele only shows that these application were not brought in good faith and only intended to harass.

In fact, during the time when these cases were still before the courts, sub judice reports were appearing in the media to the effect that taking away my opposition’s right to free speech was the only reason I made these applications.

Ms Dorey was speaking on public radio and sending out media releases about the AVOs within days of filing them. Long before this article was published: Founder of anti-immunisation group Australian Vaccination Network, Meryl Dorey, uses AVOs to gag critics

It is my belief that the magistrate in my case against Dan Buzzard may have used this misinformation in his decision since he did refer to media reports when making his summation. In fact, he criticised me openly many times during the hearing to the point where I was relieved to only have to pay $11,000 in court costs – at one point, I had the distinct impression that I was going to be sent to gaol. I do not remember him sanctioning Dan Buzzard even once despite his admissions to having asked people to send me violent pornography.

I believe that Ms Dorey will be serving time behind bars in the future. Obviously not over an AVO hearing, but over the many unlawful and fraudulent activities engaged in by her organisation. A few of which I have written about. Also I didn’t tell people to send Dorey “violent pornography”, the court obviously realised this.

These people are truly guilty of using bureaucracy and the media to silence their opposition.

All I asked was that the courts protect me from these abusers who had openly threatened and harassed me. This is a protection that should be available to all Australian citizens and residents – indeed – to everyone in every country around the world. It is a basic human right which, thanks to what I consider to be the bias of the courts, was denied me in these cases.

I continue to wait for evidence that Ms Doreys critics have ever engaged in unlawful activity against her. So far as the evidence suggest all SAVN members are operating entirely within the law.

Ms Dorey clearly thinks that the act of simply initiating a lawsuit implies guilt on behalf of the defendant. It does not you still have to prove the allegation in court, she found out the expensive way.

Read about my case here.