DNA tests end puzzle over “Reg Grundy’s son”

It’s been a story worthy of a soapie plot, but yesterday one subplot came to an end.

The man who claimed to be the lost son of the late media mogul Reg Grundy has dropped his lawsuit seeking a cut of an $800m fortune after DNA tests proved he was not.

Former Bayside mayor Simon Russell had hoped to join a legal fight in the NSW Supreme Court between Grundy’s only child, Viola La Valette and his widow Carolyn Joy Chambers-Grundy. Last month the results were inconclusive but further tests were undertaken with another biological sample of Grundy taken in 2014.

Yesterday barrister Nicholas Kirby told Justice Geoff Lindsay that, “the news is not good for my client.”

He sought to discontinue proceedings and asked that no court costs be awarded to the defendant.

“My client’s anxious now as he is not to incur any further costs I ask to be excused,” Kirby said.

Asked why he suspected he was Grundy’s son he attributed it to an uncanny resemblance to the TV pioneer.

“It’s the photos,” he told News Corp.

A spokeswoman for Mrs Chambers-Grundy released a statement saying she had always been confident of the outcome. “Nevertheless she wishes Mr Russell well in his search to find his real father.”

Meanwhile the legal fight between Ms La Valette, previously called Kim Grundy, and her stepmother is heading for a seven-day trial next year.

The case will return to court to get a final hearing date next Friday.

Source: News Corp, Australian Financial Review.