Victoria Police is being sued for defamation by a man recently cleared of wrongdoing over an incident in which he was shot by heavily armed officers at a swingers party in a Melbourne nightclub.

Dale Ewins and his partner, Zita Sukys, had been engaged in a sex act on a couch during a “Saints and Sinners” party at Inflation nightclub in the CBD when the couple were shot by members of the Critical Incident Response Unit on July 8, 2017.

The Inflation nightclub in King Street. Credit:Chris Hopkins

Competing claims about what happened in the seven seconds between when officers confronted the couple and opened fire have been aired as part of a criminal investigation, personal injury lawsuit and, now, in a defamation case.

Police had justified the incident by claiming Mr Ewins threatened officers with a replica pistol they believed at the time to be a genuine firearm.