$50k but no apology from Cull to Vandervis

Cr Lee Vandervis has received payment of $50,000 but no apology from Mayor Dave Cull after a defamation case was settled without a jury trial.

In July last year Cr Vandervis sought $250,000 in general damages and another $250,000 in exemplary damages, plus costs from Mr Cull.

The claim followed a heated exchange during a Dunedin City Council meeting  in 2015, when Cr Vandervis claimed to have paid a backhander to secure a council contract in the 1980s.

He was labelled "a liar'' by Mr Cull and ejected from the meeting after suggesting he had given Mr Cull "personal evidence'' to back his claim.

More details in tomorrow's Otago Daily Times.