Former Perth barrister Lloyd Rayney has won a $350,000 defamation payout, plus interest, for comments made by a forensic investigator which he claimed suggested he "murdered his wife and got away with it".
The comments were found by a Supreme Court judge to have been made at a 2014 forum by Mark Reynolds, who worked with police on the investigation into Corryn Rayney's murder in 2007.
Mr Rayney has always denied having anything to do with his wife's death and in 2012, after a judge-alone trial, was found not guilty of her murder — a verdict upheld on appeal.
The forum, which was recorded, was examining the Rayney case, and in response to a question Dr Reynolds said there was no need for a cold case review because "the offender had already been identified".
He was also alleged to have made further defamatory comments, that were not recorded, to an audience member at the end of the presentation.
Dr Reynolds defended the legal action, but today Justice Jenni Hilll ruled against him, finding that what was said "bore the defamatory imputation that Mr Rayney had murdered his wife".
She awarded the former barrister $350,000 damages for "personal hurt and distress" and "to vindicate his reputation".
'Still no justice for Corryn': Rayney
Dr Reynolds was also ordered to pay interest on that amount, covering the period from when he made the comments in 2014 to today's ruling, adding another $88,400 to the payout.
Outside the court, Mr Rayney said the judgement showed that even senior police were accountable for what he called their "serious wrongdoings".
"But more important than this case is that more than 15 years afterwards, and after wasting $20 million persecuting an innocent man, there is still no justice for Corryn, for Caitlyn and for Sarah (his daughters)," he said.
Mr Rayney questioned why still no action had been taken against police officers who were found by the judge in the murder trial a decade ago to have engaged in "conduct ranging from inappropriate to reprehensible".
Reynolds flags appeal against ruling
Dr Reynolds, who represented himself in court today, said he was disappointed with the outcome.
"But it's one battle in a longer war and we still have a few steps to go," he said.
When asked if he could afford the payout, Dr Reynolds replied: "I think most people can't afford to write a cheque for $480,000, but we'll see what happens there."
Dr Reynolds indicated he intended to appeal against the ruling.
Today's defamation payout comes five years after Mr Rayney was awarded $2.6 million for being named by WA police as the prime and only suspect in his wife's death.
The comments were made in the weeks after Mrs Rayney's body was found buried in Kings Park in 2007.
She had disappeared nine days earlier after attending a bootscooting class in Victoria Park.
Her murder remains unsolved.
