A Sydney surgeon who was subjected to a "vicious" campaign of harassment by a former patient, including an offensive website and death threats, has been awarded $480,000 in damages for defamation, after a judge lauded him as the "perfect plaintiff". Munjed Al Muderis, an Iraqi refugee and pioneering surgeon celebrated for giving amputees the ability to walk, considered leaving Australia after a former patient and his brother made a series of threats and put grossly defamatory posts about him online. This included a website styled similarly to Dr Al Muderis' official business site along with posts on Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest. The Supreme Court heard former patient Gerardo Mazzella and his brother Rodney Duncan waged an online campaign against Dr Al Muderis after he performed a hip operation on Mr Mazzella in 2010. Mr Mazzella complained of numbness in his penis and scrotum after the operation but subsequent tests revealed no injury and there was "no evidence of any negligence or wrongdoing" by Dr Al Muderis, Justice Stephen Rothman said in a judgment on Wednesday. The operation "went as planned" but Mr Mazzella "then flew to Thailand, contrary to advice that he not fly so soon after surgery". Justice Rothman said Mr Mazzella's complaints became "more and more vitriolic" and later escalated to threats made in person or over the phone by him or his brother. "These included threats to 'cut off [the plaintiff's] penis' and to 'kill' him," Justice Rothman said. The threats, including demands for money and suggestions that Mr Mazzella knew where Dr Al Muderis' wife worked and children went to school, escalated after a medical negligence suit and complaint to the Health Care Complaints Commission were dismissed. Dr Al Muderis took out Apprehended Violence Orders and commenced defamation proceedings against Mr Mazzella and his brother late last year over the website and social media posts. The court heard the website accused Dr Al Muderis of medical negligence and was linked to a 10-minute YouTube video called "Dr Al Muderis the Butcher". The Facebook page included a mock "Wanted" poster with Dr Al Muderis' image and pictures of "grotesque monsters" with captions including "Dr Al-Muder - Penis Lovechild". In December, Justice Lucy McCallum entered default judgment for Dr Al Muderis because neither defendant appeared in court to defend the case. Justice Rothman, who assessed damages, said Mr Mazzella and his brother had "at every stage, declined the opportunity" to defend their claims. "It is an understatement to say that Dr Al Muderis is the poster boy to answer some of the criticism that emanates in relation to refugee issues," Justice Rothman said. "He is in some sense 'the perfect plaintiff' in a defamation proceeding. He is involved in charity, works for the Australian Defence Forces, gives of his time and money for persons who are less fortunate and has put Australia at the leading edge of medical technology." Justice Rothman said none of Mr Mazzella's claims withstood scrutiny and the brothers had engaged in "a most vicious and vituperative series of publications" that "vilified" Dr Al Muderis. He awarded damages of $480,000 plus interest. Justice Rothman also foreshadowed injunctions would be granted requiring the brothers to remove the defamatory material and refrain from re-publishing it.