Ultra Tune Australia boss Sean Buckley has been unsuccessful in his legal effort to compel his former partner, Jennifer Cruz Cole, to hand over alleged secret recordings of their private conversations. The recordings are at the center of a dispute that has involved accusations of blackmail and assault.
Cole, a nurse and former bikini model who has a daughter with Buckley, admitted to making the recordings during the latter part of their relationship, which ended in December 2020. Buckley had sought the recordings, along with correspondence regarding their distribution and a separate recording made at Crown Metropol, referred to as the 'Crown Recording.'
Cole admitted making some recordings and informing Buckley of them. She also admitted to sending the Crown Recording to Buckley's lawyers and co-defendant Anthony Swords in January 2021. Swords is the former general manager of Gatto Corp.
In early 2021, reports emerged detailing excerpts from a 20-minute recording alleged to capture Buckley assaulting Cole at Crown. Buckley denied wrongdoing, disputed the recording's accuracy and completeness, and alleged the recordings were heavily edited and that Cole had attempted to extort money from him, which she denied. The criminal proceedings against Buckley, which included charges of stalking and assault, were withdrawn or struck out in Melbourne Magistrates' Court in 2025. He subsequently launched a private prosecution against Cole.
Buckley sought damages, equitable compensation, and orders for the destruction of the recordings, along with restraint on their further distribution. The civil proceeding was listed for trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria in November.
Justice Jim Delany ruled this month that there was no live issue on the pleadings to justify ordering the production of the recordings. "In response to the allegation that she provided the other recordings to her lawyer and Victoria Police, Ms Cole 'admits she has given certain material to her lawyers and to Victoria Police'," the judge stated. Cole admitted making the recordings and informing Buckley, but denied threatening to use them to destroy him or making demands for money.
The judge declared that ordering the production of the recordings would be pointless, as Cole could claim privilege against self-incrimination. The court heard that similar material had been refused multiple times by other judges. Buckley's requests for correspondence concerning the distribution of the Crown Recording and other recordings were also refused.
Allegations surfaced that Cole threatened Buckley at the Sheraton Hotel in Melbourne in January 2021, demanding $16 million or threatening to release the secret recordings. Cole denied this, stating she had never stayed at the Melbourne hotel and that they were subject to intervention orders and not in contact at the time. The court heard Buckley shifted the alleged demand to the Sheraton in Sydney a year earlier, admitting he never stayed with Cole at the Melbourne hotel.
Justice Delany found the original allegation had no proper basis. Buckley was ordered to pay Cole's costs for the failed appeal, with the Supreme Court of Victoria trial scheduled to commence in November. Anthony Swords succeeded in part on his own summons, winning orders for certain Ultra Tune financial reports.