source : the age
Luke Sayers could be questioned in front of a jury over his “state of mind” when he blamed his wife for posting a picture of his penis online, a court has heard.
Lawyers for Cate Sayers, the wife of the former Carlton Football Club president, used a court hearing on Friday to push for the evidence to be heard by a jury when the blockbuster legal battle between the estranged couple is due to go to trial in November.
Cate Sayers is suing the high-profile business figure for defamation and breach of confidence, after he blamed her for posting the lewd image on his X social media account in January 2025. Sayers claims he left his phone in a hotel bedroom in Italy while taking a shower when the photo of his penis was posted on his X account. The family had been holidaying in Italy at the time.
The Sayers’ respective legal teams were in the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday for an early hearing in the case.
Cate Sayers alleges that in his account of the incident given to the AFL’s integrity unit during its investigation, her husband defamed her and breached her confidence by disclosing information about her private life, including her sexual history and medical information.
She says she was defamed by her estranged husband’s statement because it implied: “Cate suffers from mental illness and has been prescribed medication by her doctors which she periodically refuses to take, such that her denials about posting the explicit photo from Mr Sayers’ X account cannot be trusted”.
In his defence, filed to the court this week, Luke Sayers – who denies posting the picture or even operating the account at the time – says any claims made about his wife in the statutory declaration he gave to the AFL were covered by qualified legal privilege.
“At all relevant times Luke genuinely and reasonably believed that there were grounds to suspect that Cate published the medical photograph via the X post without Luke’s knowledge or permission; and Cate’s denials about posting the medical photograph cannot be trusted,” Luke Sayers submitted in additional documents attached to his defence and seen by this masthead.
He also says his estranged wife’s allegations that he breached her privacy are “vague, embarrassing and liable to be struck out”.
In court on Friday, documents from both sides – detailing what Luke Sayers’ barrister Matt Collins, KC, described as “highly sensitive family matters” – were granted confidential status, keeping them out of the public eye.
Cate Sayers’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, indicated that her client wanted the case heard by a jury instead of a judge alone.
The high-profile Sydney silk, who appeared by video link from Sydney, said there would be a need for the businessman’s “state of mind” to be examined in court.
She also indicated there would be little evidence heard in a trial, set for five days from November 23, about the facts of the case because of what she described as the “technical” nature of Luke Sayers’ defence.
The jury trial application – as well as a bid by Luke Sayers to have the case transferred away from the Supreme Court and to another undisclosed court – will be heard when the parties return to court in May.
Kishor Napier-Raman is a senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously he worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliamentary press gallery.Connect via X or email.
