Rachelle Louise sues for being labelled 'world's most deluded woman'

A Sydney judge will allow convicted murderer Simon Gittany's girlfriend to sue the Daily Mail Australia for defamation despite ordering her to pay the publication's preliminary hearing costs.

Rachelle Louise took legal action against the Mail because it referred to her as a "stripper", a "former stripper" and the "world's most deluded woman" in a number of different articles following Gittany's conviction.

Ms Louise protested Gittany's sentence of a minimum 18 years in prison for the murder of his Canadian then-fiancee Lisa Harnum by throwing her from the 15th floor balcony of their Sydney apartment.

Represented by experienced defamation lawyer Roger Rasmussen, Ms Louise launched her case against the online news site for the articles' alleged imputation that she is a "women (sic) of loose morals " as well as being deluded for believing "convicted killer Simon Gittany is innocent".

Fairfax reports that District Judge Judith Gibson noted that Mr Rasmussen made note that a deluded person can "wake up" while "stupid is forever".

Judge Gibson suggested this was "contrary to the dictionary definition of 'stupid', which generally connotes intellectual limitations rather than being deluded on a permanent basis".

The judge suggested the articles did not imply Ms Louise was "stupid" in the sense that she suffered from intellectual deficiencies on a permanent basis.

Judge Gibson is allowing a jury case to proceed but ordered Ms Louise to cover the costs of the preliminary hearing.

ninemsn is owned by Nine Entertainment Co, which is also a part-owner of the Daily Mail Australia.