Underbelly Story Is Wrong

The third Underbelly series is under threat from a star of the real-life version - a former cop who claims she may be defamed by being intimately linked with Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim. Former NSW police constable Wendy Hatfield yesterday launched a pre-emptive strike against Channel 9 and production company Screentime, even though she hasn't seen a single episode of the series. Through her lawyers, she argued the TV show was based on the book - Underbelly: The Golden Mile - which defamed her by claiming she "had a sexual relationship with John Ibrahim, knowing him to be a criminal".

It also implied she was guilty of perjury, the court heard. Ms Hatfield also alleged she was defamed because the program implied "she is a person of little intelligence", that she "achieved promotion in the police force by granting sexual favours" and that she "is guilty of a number of acts of misconduct by reason of her relationship with Ibrahim, a criminal", court documents stated.


Her barrister Sue Chrysanthou sought access to five episodes of the series, with the next step being a defamation action - and possibly an injunction to stop the broadcast. Ms Hatfield, who lives in Victoria and whose married surname is Chambers, has long been linked to Mr Ibrahim. The Wood Royal Commission into police corruption in the mid-1990s heard the pair had a two-month affair and they had taken a mid-week getaway to go out on a dive boat off Forster on the state's North Coast.

When asked about it in the witness box, Mr Ibrahim declined to answer questions about their relationship. His lawyer Stephen Alexander yesterday said his client spent four hours in the cells for refusing to answer on grounds of relevance. Ms Hatfield, who resigned from the police force, still maintains her denial at the commission that she had a sexual relationship with Mr Ibrahim, but accepted she did go with him on the Forster trip.

Ms Chrysanthou said her client's reputation would be destroyed if the series was aired to millions of Australians. "She can't come back from that," she said.

Both Channel 9 and Screentime denied any wrongdoing and said they would vigorously defend any suggestion of defamation. Plenty of online material and other publications have confirmed the character of "Constable Wendy", played by former Home And Away actress Jessica Tovey, is a star of the series. Firass Dirani, the actor who plays Mr Ibrahim, has also reportedly said his "hardest scene" was when he got 'hot and heavy with Wendy'. "It was full on," said Dirani, who was okayed by Ibrahim to play him. "Getting naked in front of six people is quite bizarre. I've warned Mum; she's trying to prepare herself."

Justice Ian Harrison will hand his decision down next Friday.