Gillespie said he had an argument with Edwards in July 2018 when he dropped Oscar off to stay with her, and she questioned his decision and “began berating me”. He said the argument culminated in him yelling “hold the damn dog for now”.
He said he believed Edwards and her husband had “a right to see Oscar” because they were “family” and had shown love for him for years, so he facilitated them to collect the dog for a stay in Sydney.
On one such occasion – December 16, 2019 – he said he was “somewhere in the Caribbean” and believed Oscar had gone with Edwards to appear on the television show. Pooh Perfectbut “Oscar was not returned”.
“I got an email with a claim statement… she wouldn’t return the dog,” Gillespie said.
“I called the family and tried to figure out what to do…when we all said ‘well she stole the dog’ they wanted to go to the police – to which I agreed.”
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The civil suit brought by Edwards was finally resolved in the NSW High Court in November 2021, when warrants were issued declaring that Edwards owned Oscar.
Gillespie was asked by Nine’s attorney, Dauid Sibtain, SC, why he agreed to these orders.
“Did it have anything to do with financial pressure?” said Sibtain.
“Yes,” said Gillespie. He agreed with Sibtain’s suggestion that he had incurred large legal costs and could not afford to continue the proceedings.
“How did you feel when you gave up ownership of Oscar?” said Sibtain.
“I was very upset,” said Gillespie. “It was my dog and I loved him. I was very angry that Mrs. Edwards could do this to me. So I was very upset, angry and missing part of my family that I had.
He said he contacted a reporter from A current situation and arranged to go to a park where he thought Oscar would be.
The final broadcast showed Gillespie grabbing Oscar from a Kirribilli park and saying “I’m just picking up my property, thanks” before quickly walking away as a distraught Edwards ran after him screaming.
The court heard earlier that the police had been called and Gillespie returned Oscar.
The hearing continues.
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