Cancer fraud Belle Gibson. In an email included in the court documents, the head of Penguin's cookbook division, Julie Gibbs, said the company's publicity team would work with Ms Gibson to "make sure" the book campaign was about how a "healthy lifestyle has prolonged Belle's life - way beyond what was ever predicted by her doctors". After Ms Gibson's lies were revealed, and days before her book was pulled from the shelves, Penguin's PR firm expressed relief that attention had turned from the publisher to the conwoman's "friends" and that "we would like to avoid inserting ourselves into the ongoing conversation", the documents reveal. The court documents also capture the fury of readers' backlash against Penguin - one of the world's biggest publishers - over its failure to do it due diligence before printing the book. Incensed customers demanded refunds, accusing the company of having "just as much blood on your hands as she does" and of making "a quick buck on the back of her deception".

Belle Gibson as she appeared in a media coaching video with Penguin publishers. "Do you take all information you are given at face value?" one wrote to the publisher. The internal files also show Penguin committed to paying $15,000 for a "home economist" to help Ms Gibson - who has no training as a cook or nutritionist - develop recipes for the book. Belle Gibson's book, The Whole Pantry. They even detail the media storm from which Penguin tried to distance itself, after Fairfax Media first revealed Ms Gibson had failed to hand over money she raised in the name of charity.

In the days immediately after the story broke, when doubts were raised about her health claims, Ms Gibson was still trying to convince those around her that she was sick and appeared to believe the scandal would blow over. Belle may even face criminal charges so the quicker Penguin is distanced from her the better. But the publisher quickly made it clear to Ms Gibson that it was cutting her loose. "The media situation has escalated and this is now out of my hands as we have a situation of corporate risk," said Ms Gibbs, the publishing veteran who led The Whole Pantry project. The advice to Penguin from the Sydney public relations firm was that, in order to "get on the front foot", it needed to dump the book at once.

"You may still get questions about how much Penguin knew in advance (which you can decline to respond to)," the publisher was told. "Belle may even face criminal charges so the quicker Penguin is distanced from her the better." Within days Penguin had drafted the media lines it rolled out during the first week of the scandal: first, that it was seeking an explanation from Ms Gibson; second, that it was waiting for her response and considering its options; and third, that the book would be withdrawn. Penguin was eventually forced to pulp Ms Gibson's debut cook book after she failed to defend accusations of falsely claiming to have cancer and could not explain why she withheld charitable donations. But the new documents reveal there were signs of trouble in October 2014, on the eve of the book's release, when Ms Gibson told Ms Gibbs that a jealous friend had "turned on her".

Penguin's files show Ms Gibbs understood that to mean allegations were being made to the effect that "Gibson had fabricated part or all of her illness". In late October, Penguin's PR agency went as far as to prepare a "contingency" communications document in preparation for such a scandal. By then, the The Whole Pantry had already been in bookshops for a week. Going back even earlier, to May 2014, a senior editor emailed Ms Gibbs about concerns over the book's draft spanning Ms Gibson's personal story, employment and medical history. "Julie - I think the main thing to warn Belle about is that there are a few 'gaps' which journalists might probe," she cautioned.

Just before the book's release, Penguin questioned Ms Gibson on camera for 90 minutes about the disparities in her story in a bid to manage questions from media. Penguin has since admitted it did not fact-check Ms Gibson's book, in which she lies about about her medical status and philanthropy, including to have cured herself of terminal brain cancer with a healthy lifestyle. The publisher was ordered to pay $30,000 over its part in the deception, which is still playing out before the courts in action led by Consumer Affairs Victoria. The documents show that on the Friday before the Monday that the book was finally pulled from shelves, Penguin's communications manager emailed the team: "The story has taken a turn towards investigating Belle's 'friends' and past, meaning that we are not under the same scrutiny we were 24 hours ago. "We would like to avoid inserting ourselves into the ongoing conversation, particularly as we enter the weekend where increased coverage is likely."

Loading But the company's attempt to protect itself from media scrutiny failed. Asked last week to explain its vetting process and respond to calls to donate money from sales of The Whole Pantry to cancer research, a Penguin spokeswoman said: "I'm afraid we're not commenting further on the Belle Gibson case."