Xenophon Davis has reached a settlement with Channel Nine over a news broadcast, aired on A Current Affair in 2017, which falsely suggested our client, Bennet Schwartz, was a police informant.

Mr Schwartz was in gaol at the time. According to Mark Davis, Principal of Xenophon Davis, the report put a target on Schwartz’s head in “the most dangerous place on the planet to make such an accusation.”

“He was set upon, terrorised and stabbed as a result of this broadcast. In the end, the story was wrong,” Mr Davis said.

The innacuracies in the reporting, and danger it exposed our client to, were highlighted by Media Watch last year in the following segment:

Xenophon Davis is grateful for the settlement, and to Channel Nine for issuing the following clarification:

On 4 August 2017, A Current Affair broadcast a report relating to Bennet Schwartz and his conviction for drug trafficking.

A Current Affair clarifies that Mr Schwartz was not a police informant and if anyone took the report to suggest that he was, that suggestion is withdrawn.

We appreciate the record being corrected.

Further coverage:

• Cocaine smuggler Bennet Schwartz sues A Current Affair over brutal prison attack (News.com.au)
• Cocaine smuggler Bennet Schwartz sues A Current Affair over brutal prison attack (The Australian)
• Channel nine hit with defamation suit over dangerous and irresponsible reporting that led to prison attack (Lawyerly)