Brittany Higgins’ fiancée finally gets court papers when he resurfaces after six months – while Linda sues Reynolds for libel
- David Sharaz has received defamation papers
- Senator Linda Reynolds is suing him over social media posts
Brittany Higgins’ fiancé, David Sharaz, has confirmed that Linda Reynolds’ lawyers have officially delivered libel papers to him after a court heard they couldn’t find him for six months.
Sharaz is being sued by the former defense minister in the Supreme Court of Western Australia over five social media posts, uploaded last year, which she said were “falsely defamatory.”
Senator Reynolds’ attorney, Martin Bennett, told the court on Thursday that his office had tried since January to serve Mr Sharaz with a subpoena — without success.
It is understood that Mr. Bennett’s office sent emails to two Gmail accounts that belonged to Mr. Sharaz but were not checked.
Daily Mail Australia revealed on Saturday that Mr Sharaz had been ‘found’ – he resurfaced near his Gold Coast home, sporting jeans and a green jumper.
Hours later, Mr. Sharaz responded by posting an update on Instagram to say he had received the subpoena and updated his contact information with Senator Reynolds’ lawyers.
Brittany Higgins’ fiancée, David Sharaz (pictured on the Gold Coast on Saturday), confirms he has been given defamation papers
Senator Linda Reynolds (pictured) is suing David Sharaz over five social media posts uploaded last year
“FYI I gave them my ACTUAL email address,” he wrote. “I have accepted the service of Senator Reynolds.”
Mr Sharaz has 21 days to formally respond, triggering the next phase of the case.
In court on Thursday, Mr Bennet said his office also tried to contact Mr Sharaz through his former employer, Southern Cross Austereo, but received no reply.
He also pointed to media reports saying Mr Sharaz and Ms Higgins lived on the Gold Coast but said it was not practical to track down their address.
Supreme Court Judge Marcus Solomon allowed Mr Bennett’s office to send the summons to the two personal accounts, saying Mr Sharaz was expected to be served within 24 hours of those emails being sent.
It is clear that Mr Sharaz had not received the summons as of Friday morning, but Mr Bennett said his office immediately emailed it to him on the orders of Judge Solomon.
David Sharaz revealed on Sunday that he received the subpoena from Senator Reynolds’ attorneys
According to the subpoena, viewed by Daily Mail Australia, Senator Reynolds alleged she was defamed in three Twitter posts between January and December last year, one Instagram post in April and one Facebook comment in December.
Mr Sharaz appears to have deactivated his Facebook profile, made his Instagram account private and recently deleted about 2,000 followers.
Senator Reynolds is seeking damages and an injunction against Mr. Sharaz to publish the alleged defamatory material and charges.
She also claims interest on damages at the rate of six percent from the date of publication to the date of judgment.
Hours after Mr Sharaz’s case was raised in court, Ms Higgins uploaded photos of the couple celebrating Mr Zwier’s birthday at Flower Drum in Melbourne – with personalized balloons and a cake reading ‘Australia’s best lawyer’.
On Friday, she posted a photo of herself sitting at the table between her friend Emma Webster and Mr Sharaz.
Mr. Lehrmann allegedly raped Ms. Higgins in Senator Reynolds’ parliamentary office in 2019, which he strongly denies.
Ms Higgins (centre) posted photos to Instagram of herself alongside Mr Sharaz (left) and her friend Emma Webster celebrating her lawyer Leon Zwier’s birthday at an upscale Chinese restaurant in Melbourne – hours after Mr Bennet told a court that he couldn’t find Mr Sharaz