Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 02 JULY 2025

Couple Imprisoned For Contempt After Breaching Supreme Court Order

Recent defamation and contempt of court case discussed.

AustraliaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Emma Starr
Emma Starr

A married couple who reject the rules, regulations and laws that apply across society on the basis they are ' sovereign citizens' has been sentenced to 30 days of imprisonment after they continued to publish defamatory material about a lawyer despite having been ordered to pay damages and legal costs for defaming the lawyer and to refrain from publishing any further such material.

Defamation

On 15 January 2025, Justice Paul Tottle of the Supreme Court of Western Australia found that three people, Adam Crown and married couple Jerald and Emma Martin, defamed their former lawyer, sole practitioner Laura Michelmore, by sending two emails on 28 and 31 July 2025 respectively to a number of leading members of the state's legal profession which falsely claimed the lawyer engaged in unethical and illegal conduct.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

See more popular content from