In the Garde-Wilson case,Justice Bernard Murphy had ordered Google,which didn’t object to the application,to provide the registration information of the account along with IP addresses.

But it wasn’t enough to identify who was behind the posts.

Mr Stanarevic tried to get more information including phone numbers and email addresses used to recover account details when they were lost or verify the account when it was created.

But Google told him that due to the length of time since the account was deleted,any relevant data associated with “Mohamed Ahmed” had been “permanently deleted”.

“As such,any additional search would reveal no additional information. Google does not maintain separate backup systems of the kind contemplated by the application,” according to an email from Google tendered by Mr Stanarevic.

Mr Stanarevic then broadened his claim before the Federal Court,claiming Ms Garde-Wilson should be compensated for losing her chance to sue because Google had breached its duty to preserve records.

Justice Murphy decided on Thursday that the new claim was outside the scope of the original application and dismissed the application,unhappy with the “flurry of materials” and “inchoate arguments” throughout the case.

Ms Garde-Wilson said in a statement toThe Age that she can now issue proceedings against Google for destroying the account information.

Mr Stanarevic said his client was concerned Google could delete information relevant to her prospective defamation case and that they would be exploring their ability to sue the company.

Google has been contacted for comment.

Ms Garde-Wilson wasconvicted of contempt of court in 2005 for refusing to give evidence against two men later found guilty of murdering her de facto husband and underworld figure Lewis Caine.

Ms Garde-Wilson told the court at the time she thought she would be killed if she testified.