A screenshot of Matt Palmer's apology on the Scotland Island Community Facebook page. Accompanied by a photograph of Mr Mohareb, the poster said the Egyptian-born man is "a highly volatile individual, prone to manic outbursts... often abusive and threatening, particularly towards women and children" and "known to police". A photo of the poster was posted on the Scotland Island Community Facebook page by Matt Palmer, followed by a suggestion that Mr Mohareb "may or may not be related to Satan". The poster was removed by the page's moderator Hubert Van Mierlo, who said "mob justice and vigilantism" had no place on a page designed for "respectful conversation". Mr Palmer and his wife Annette further commented, denying they created or posted the notice around the island but admitting they posted it on the Facebook page.

The poster posted on the Scotland Island Community Facebook page. "I do not apologise, or regret for one moment, outing the individual as I (and quite a number of other residents) am genuinely concerned by the viciousness of the increasing number of confrontation," Mr Palmer said. Mr Mohareb sued the couple for defamation, claiming the posts gave rise to the imputations that he is mentally unstable, contemptuous of accepted social conventions and decorum, has a history of violence and should be avoided by members of the community. Over the following months the case came to court at least seven times, with the Palmers forced to borrow money to pay their lawyers. Following a judgment on which imputations could go to a jury, Mr Mohareb and the Palmers entered into settlement negotiations and executed a deed. Mr Mohareb agreed to drop the case, and pay some of the Palmer's costs, in return for the publication of an apology on the Scotland Island Community Facebook page.

But what should have been a straightforward resolution to the dispute collapsed when the page's moderator, unaware of the agreement, deleted the apology. During a hearing in June, Mr Van Mierlo told the court he reinstated the apology after Mr Palmer, incorrectly, said it was part of a "court order". "Annette and I wish nothing more than to put the entire sordid and incredibly expensive experience behind us," Mr Palmer wrote in a private message. He went on to say, "To be frank I really don't care if you post the apology or not. I have fulfilled my requirement which was to make fair and reasonable attempt to do so (sic)". However, the apology was mysteriously removed from the page hours later.

On discovering this, Mr Mohareb refused to discontinue the defamation proceedings and the matter returned to court. Mr Palmer posted another apology, but spelled Mr Mohareb's name incorrectly, so it was again removed, before a fourth version was posted in May. In handing down judgment late last month, District Court Judge Judith Gibson said the evidence pointed to Mr Palmer having removed the post, even though he denied it in cross-examination. Judge Gibson said an apology placed on the page for a few hours could not comply with the terms of the settlement. Rather, the post should "remain there, slowly being overtaken by more recent postings, but nevertheless there if searched for". However, she said the case should not go any further now the apology had been up for a couple of months.

The Palmers sought a lump sum costs order of $14,721 but Judge Gibson refused, saying the page administrators should have been contacted prior to the publishing of the apology. The removal of the second version and the spelling mistake in the third was also the Palmer's fault. "The defendants are not entitled to claim costs at all," she said, saying the settlement on the basis of an apology in return for discontinuing the case "was an outstandingly good one from their point of view". "These were serious defamations...the defendants' failure to perform their part of the bargain made the plaintiff justifiably suspicious", Judge Gibson said. On Sunday the apology appeared to have been taken down from the Scotland Island Facebook page again.