Issue Date:  -  Thursday, 9 November 2006

Photographic modelling duo’s lights extinguished

After numerous court appearances, prosecutions spanning several years, injunctions made in the Supreme Court and a finding of contempt of court, disgraced model promoters Peter and Katharina Holz of Hemingway Drive Westfield are out of the industry forever.

This announcement that is sure to be music to the ears of teenagers, as well as their parents, follows the couple giving permanent enforceable undertakings to the Supreme Court that they will not:

 Solicit payment for photographic or promotional services in any way connected or associated with modelling or potential modelling work;
 Conduct or be involved in any way with any business associated with or claiming to be associated with models or modelling; and
 Offer any services in the nature of advice on their behalf or on anyone else’s behalf to models or would be models.

“These orders put this pair out of the model photography and model promotion industry for good and we are very happy about that,” Consumer Protection Commissioner Patrick Walker said.

“It has been a long and complex road in bringing these people to justice, but the community expected us to persevere and the result we have seen is a very satisfying one for the community,” he said.

In July this year Mrs. Holz was sentenced to a twenty-eight day (suspended) jail term for contempt by the Supreme Court after breaching undertakings she had given to the Court at an earlier time.

“The detriment that Mr. and Mrs. Holz caused to young people while they were preying on their vulnerabilities of wanting to be famous through modelling careers, was among the worst behaviour Consumer Protection has ever seen by traders.

“Despite giving the permanent undertakings, we would still encourage any consumers that have any unsatisfactory business dealings with either Mr. or Mrs. Holz to contact Consumer Protection,” Mr. Walker said.