Decorated barrister claims she was threatened by co-owner of Insta-famous cavoodle
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A decorated lawyer who sued a Nine News show over reports it stole an Instagram-famous cavoodle told a court she was threatened by the owner, who told her to “take the damn dog” before the couple left. submit to a custody battle.
Prized dog Oscar is at the center of a bitter libel case between Gina Edwards and the Nine Network’s A Current Affair.
Lawyers for Ms Edwards have claimed in court that the show told a “blatant lie” in reporting on a dispute between Ms Edwards and the dog’s owner, Mark Gillespie.
Ms Edwards is also suing journalist Steve Marshall over the two 2021 broadcasts and an article.
While Mr Gillespie bought Oscar and registered his microchip with the local council, Ms Edwards said she and her husband Ken Flavell were known as “Oscar’s parents”.
Ms Edwards told a court about the details of her arrangement with Mr Gillespie, who worked as a cruise director and spent time away from Oscar.
Decorated attorney Gina Edwards (pictured) told a court that the Instagram-famous cavoodle’s owner, Oscar, told her to “keep the fucking dog” before the couple entered into a custody battle .
Prized dog Oscar is at the center of a bitter defamation case between Gina Edwards (pictured with Oscar) and the Nine Network’s A Current Affair for reporting on a custody dispute between Ms Edwards and the dog’s owner and “co-father”, Mark Gillespie.
Gillespie bought the dog in 2016 and registered Flavell as the secondary owner, and the trio cared for him “like a child with three parents.”
“There were times when we all spent time together as a strange little urban family,” Ms Edwards told the court.
Ms Edwards said she and Mr Gillespie regularly texted photos of Oscar and discussed his eating and grooming habits.
The court was told that Ms Edwards and her husband were often referred to by Mr Gillespie as “Oscar’s parents”.
“On Instagram we were ‘Mommy and Poppy’, to everyone else we were Oscar’s parents,” she said.
But in May 2018, Gillespie’s relatives began caring for Oscar at a property in Wingella, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, while he worked away.
In July of that year, Ms Edwards told the court that she had a confrontation with Mr Gillespie.
She said Mr Gillespie was leaving Oscar and was in a “very bad mood” when he told her that one of his family members said he wanted to end “joint custody back and forth”.
A Current Affair filmed a confrontation between Mark Gillespie (pictured with Oscar the Cavoodle) and Mrs. Edwards at a dog park. Ms Edwards’ lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou, told the court that A Current Affair portrayed Ms Edwards as a ‘dog sitter’ who had stolen the Oscar.
‘I said, ‘Why is she even influencing this? I met her once, she has nothing to do with Oscar’s life,” Ms Edwards told the court.
Ms Edwards told the court that Mr Gillespie leaned over her as she sat down and threatened to never see the dog again.
She said she was upset and asked Mr. Gillespie to come back when her husband was home.
“He said, ‘Don’t talk about my fucking family like that,'” Ms Edwards told the court.
“He said ‘stay with the fucking dog’ and ran out of my room and slammed the door so hard…Oscar was extremely distraught.”
Ms Edwards (pictured left) told the court that in July 2018, Mr Gillespie was leaving Oscar and was in a “very bad mood” when he told her that one of his family members She said that she wanted to leave the “roundtrip”. forward joint custody’
Ms Edwards’ husband, Ken Flavell (pictured), told the court that the couple wanted a court to declare them sole owners of the dog. “He (Mr. Gillespie) had abandoned Oscar, so we wanted sole proprietorship,” Flavell said.
Between August 2018 and November 2019, Ms Edwards told the court that she and Mr Flavell checked on Oscar approximately every six weeks and were concerned that he was not being groomed, walked or fed properly.
“My concern was that they weren’t taking care of him in the way that Ken and I would have hoped,” Ms Edwards said.
That same day, Flavell testified that the couple wanted a court to declare them sole owners of the dog.
“He (Mr. Gillespie) had abandoned Oscar, so we wanted sole proprietorship,” Flavell said.
The court has been told that Oscar the Cavoodle (pictured) would be staying with Mr Gillespie’s extended family in Wingello, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, while he was away on work.
“He was extending his contract (as a cruise director), so he was limiting his time with Oscar.”
Mr. Flavell was told that Mr. Gillespie had a “wish” to go to Las Vegas and take the dog with him.
I was going to go to Vegas. If he was going to take Oscar, I don’t know,” Flavell said.
Pressed further, he added: ‘I don’t think he did. Maybe he mentioned that she would, maybe he mentioned that he could. In our opinion, he had abandoned Oscar and that is why we were demanding justice.
Nine’s lawyer, Dauid Sibtain (right), questioned Mr Flavell about Oscar the Cavoodle.
Mr. Flavell also testified about the care Oscar was receiving at Wingella.
“We felt that he was at risk,” he told the court.
It was not as well cared for as it should have been.
But Mr Flavell told the court that, during that time, they did not think Oscar was in any “immediate danger” or they would have intervened sooner.
Flavell was also asked about his offer to buy Oscars from Gillespie.
“I didn’t know the dogs were property,” Flavell said repeatedly.
‘I made an offer to buy the dog, yes.’
Edwards’ lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou, told the court Monday that A Current Affair reporting on the custody dispute portrayed Edwards as a “dog sitter” who had illegally obtained custody of Oscar.
Ms Chrysanthou argued that Ms Edwards was defamed and her reputation as a lawyer damaged.
It was further claimed that the stories portrayed her exploiting Oscar for financial gain and trying to delay the dog ownership court case.
Nine has denied defaming Ms Edwards, arguing that the burglary and robbery allegations were not aired.
Oscar has close to 10,000 followers on Instagram and his social media posts include photos of him in a tuxedo for a trip to the opera.
The hearing continues before Judge Michael Wigney.