Bec Hewitt's counsel claims magazine article was a grubby story

Sydney, Aug 14 (ANI): A lawyer representing Bec Hewitt, the wife of Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt, has said that a magazine that claimed she had a new man in her life was a grubby story.

The article had claimed that Bec had a new man in her life going by the name of Minder Mark, who was described as a former fitness trainer from Dallas. Minder Mark, however, turned out to be Bec's brother Shaun Cartwright.

Counsel for Bec, Andrew Harris, told the South Australian Supreme Court that the article insinuated that the celebrity was involved in an extramarital affair and said the person named in the article was simply made up.

"There is no Minder Mark. His persona is a fabrication," The Daily Telegraph quoted Harris, as saying.

Harris further said the article was a "particularly grubby" front-page story in the magazine published by Pacific Magazines.

Meanwhile, Pacific Magazines, which issued an apology to the Hewitts, said that the newspaper rule was designed to protect the free flow of information and it should not be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Counsel for Pacific Magazines, Tom Blackburn, said that information relating to Bec could be considered to be in the public interest given that in the past she had actively sought publicity and placed her activities in the stream of public discourse.

However, Harris said that Pacific Magazines could not use the "newspaper rule" to protect its source, as the information in the story could not categorized as a story of public interest. (ANI)