'Underbelly' real life character successfully sues show

A former Sydney police officer portrayed in Underbelly: The Golden Mile has won her defamation case against the show.

Wendy Hatfield, who was played by former Home and Away actress Jessica Tovey in the Australian crime drama last year, claimed that the scriptwriters damaged her character by sexually linking her with Sydney nightclub owner John Ibrahim and accusing her of perjury.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the verdict in her favour was formally delivered in the Supreme Court yesterday, but all other details of the settlement have been kept confidential.

Since the show, Hatfield has vehemently denied that she ever had a sexual relationship with Ibrahim and said that the show caused her to be brought into ridicule and contempt.

Her lawyer Bill Kalantzis said: "Ms Hatfield is pleased to be vindicated by the verdict entered today and is otherwise happy with the settlement."

Last year, Hatfield won $59,000 (£38,000) from the publishers of the book that the Underbelly series was based on. Around the same time, she was denied permission by a judge to view the series before it went to air.