A Queensland magistrate has suppressed the name of a man with a “high public profile” during an ongoing extortion case in Cairns.
The man – referred to in court as MM – is not a party to the case, which was back before the Cairns magistrates court on Monday.
MM’s conduct was allegedly used as the basis of an extortion attempt against a far north Queensland woman by her former partner.
Sen Sgt Maynard Marcum applied for the suppression order to protect MM on behalf of the Queensland police commissioner, Brett Pointing.
The magistrate Gelma Meoli ordered the court to be closed, except for accredited media.
Barrister Andrew O’Brien, representing media organisations, opposed the broader order suppressing identities beyond the alleged victim of the attempted extortion and the alleged perpetrator. O’Brien argued that naming MM would not reveal the woman’s identity.
He argued the magistrate lacked the power to make an order protecting any other party, citing a string of previous cases which he said found that a suppression order could only be made by “necessity”.
Suppression orders were only necessary to protect the alleged victim’s identity, the court was told on Monday.
“In a blackmail case, the complainant and the defendant share the guilty secret, whereas in an extortion case, it’s different; it’s one person revealing another person’s guilty secret, to which they’re not both a party,” O’Brien said.
The alleged extortionist allegedly gained information by taking photographs of messages on her computer, the court was told. He also allegedly made a “supplementary threat” regarding conduct by another friend of the woman.
O’Brien said it was “curious and telling” that the police applied for a suppression order that only protected the identity of MM and not the friend.
“If this were a genuine application directed at protecting complainants … coming forward, then our friend [Marcum] would also be seeking an order to protect that information.
“The election to pursue suppression of [MM] as opposed to the other woman … can only be explained by embarrassment.”
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