A woman attending a meeting for recovering drug addicts claims she had sex with IT guru Constantine Arvanitis on the street.
Mr Arvanitis, 48, has been accused of being a sex addict by his ex-partner Selina Holder in a messy defamation hearing being played out in a Melbourne court.
On Monday, the County Court of Victoria heard the sensational development.
Selina Holder attends the County Court of Victoria on Monday. She is defending claims she has defamed her ex-partner by calling him a sex addict
Constantine Arvanitis and Melanie Thornton leave the County Court of Victoria on Thursday. Mr Arvanitis claims he has been the target of a savage attack to destroy his reputation
Selina Holder is defending allegations she defamed her former partner
The woman – who was not named in court – claimed she had met Mr Arvanitis while attending a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in leafy South Yarra in 2016.
Ms Holder’s Sydney-based barrister Barrie Goldsmith told the court the woman had relapsed back onto drugs when Mr Arvanitis lured her into his web.
In email sent to the defence midway through the trial, which has already been running for five days, the woman claimed Mr Arvanitis had taken advantage of her while she was ‘vulnerable’ and under the influence of drugs.
The court heard the 26-year old had sex in a side street with Mr Arvanitis off trendy Chapel Street.
‘Not only is he a sex addict, but a sex predator,’ the woman stated in the email.
Mr Arvanitis had been living the high life when his addiction to drugs saw his life spiral out of control.
It is something the high flying IT guru fully admits.
Choking back tears, he had previously recalled the moment he hit rock bottom and had to enter rehab.
While Mr Arvanitis accepts he indeed was once a drug addict, it is a perceived slur by his ex-partner that he is a sex addict that has brought the matter to court.
So adamant is Ms Holder that what she claims is true, she had repeatedly refused to back down despite offers to settle with her ex for a paltry $5000 and a promise never to repeat the claims again.
Selina Holder walks from a Melbourne court. On Wednesday, the court heard she had sent some horrendous text messages to her ex-partner
Selina Holder (left) Melanie Thornton (centre) have all become embroiled in a messy court case in Melbourne
The court heard Ms Holder’s defence hopes to include the new evidence as part of its ‘truth defence’ against the defamation claims.
In a day of drama, the court heard an explosive document would also be tendered into evidence after a legal challenge by Ms Holder to have it excluded from the trial failed.
It is the very document she is accused of handing over to the surgeon sister of Mr Arvanitis’ fiance Melanie Thornton that brought on the defamation case.
While the contents of the document cannot be revealed due to legal reasons, it outlines a series of allegations claiming Mr Arvanitis to be a violent, drug addicted sex addict.
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On Monday, the court heard Dr Chantel Thornton – the wife of luxury car dealer Srecko Lorbek – would likely be subpoenaed to court to outline exactly who she shared the document with.
Her father, Gerald Thornton, is also likely to be called amid claims he was aware of the contents of the damning document.
Mr Arvanitis had been embraced by the Thornton clan until late 2018 when he claims the document made its way into the hands of Dr Thornton.
Even if she did not show the document to her parents – as alleged – Mr Arvanitis claims the ‘grapevine effect’ was devastating to his relationship with the family.
He was dropped like a hot potato when Dr Thornton received the disturbing document and has never returned to the fold despite his ongoing relationship with her sister, who had received a hand-delivered letter all of her own.
The letter had been signed-off by Ms Holder and two other of Mr Arvanitis’ ex-girlfriends – aka ‘The Sisterhood’.
All three would later deny they were the postie.
Dr Chantel Thornton is married to luxury car dealer Srecko Lorbek
Dr Chantel Thornton allegedly received some damning information about Con Arvanitis and shared it with her husband
Dr Chantel Thornton (left) and her sister Melanie Thornton. Constantine Arvanitis claims he was banished by the Thornton clan after they read a damning document supposedly about him
Mr Arvanitis said he was ‘disgusted’ when word of the legal document had been handed over to his prospective in-laws.
He told the court he felt he had been ‘crucified’ by the false allegations.
Again Mr Arvanitis painted the mother of his daughter a deadbeat- claiming she would gamble and drink wine while breast feeding their child.
The IT expert, who had been earning up to $170,000 a year while working with the ANZ at the time, claims the recent publicity of the ongoing court proceedings now threatened to cost him his job with the National Australia Bank.
‘This has hurt every corner of my life. I’m going to lose my job, regardless,’ he said on Monday.
‘It’s damaged me beyond repair.’
Under cross examination by Mr Goldsmith, Mr Arvanitis claimed he had no idea the ‘disgusting’ allegations would be picked-up and broadcast by the media.
‘I didn’t think it would be media worthy. I’m not a celebrity,’ he said.
Mr Arvanitis said while he expected the matter to be brought before the open court he maintained he did not believe he was ‘newsworthy’.
Mr Goldsmith is expected to grill Mr Arvanitis over the next two days before Ms Holder eventually enters the witness box.
The experienced barrister immediately went on the attack, accusing Mr Arvanitis of faking tears while giving his earlier evidence.
‘Do you know what crocodile tears are?’ he asked. ‘This is all part of a charade.’
Mr Arvanitis denied he had been putting on an act.
The civil trial continues.
