That is how a series of articles published in The Daily Telegraph in late 2013 and early 2014 allegedly portrayed convicted killer Simon Gittany's former girlfriend Rachelle Louise, a defamation trial has heard.

But her barrister, Clive Evatt, told the NSW District Court that Ms Louise is in fact a "modern day Joan of Arc" and a caring woman, who gave Gittany $90,000 from her life savings to help fund his defence.

Ms Louise, 25, is suing Nationwide News over three articles it published in The Daily Telegraph, which allegedly contained several imputations, including that she was a stripper, a prostitute, and a bimbo.

The jury of two women and two men has been told Ms Louise stood by Mr Gittany during his trial in 2013, which led to a conviction for murdering Lisa Harnum by throwing her off a high-rise balcony.

"[The Daily Telegraph] hate her for standing up for the man she loves and they ridicule and scorn her, defame her, but she stands up to them," Mr Evatt told the court on Tuesday.

"You've got to go a long way back in history to find a young woman who stood up to oppressors; one that comes to mind is Joan of Arc.

"It could be said that Rachelle Louise is a modern-day Joan of Arc."

Mr Evatt said one Telegraph article, written by police reporter Clementine Cuneo​, wrongly reported that Ms Louise worked as a stripper at a club called Spearmint Rhino in Las Vegas and as a masseuse in London and accepted diamond necklaces from strangers as she travelled the world.

"Add them all up, they're saying she's a prostitute, she's a woman of loose morals," Mr Evatt said.

Mr Evatt said Ms Louise had saved $60,000 to travel the world, after taking a highly paid job at the Commonwealth Bank upon her graduation from Rosebank College, a high school in Sydney's inner-west.

"The Telegraph makes her world trip sordid, something improper," Mr Evatt said.

The same article said Ms Louise kissed the actor Woody Harrelson in New York City, but in fact the actor had "put his tongue in her mouth, she thought it was gross", Mr Evatt told the court.

He said Ms Cuneo's reports were full of misquotes and false attributions and were "the worst example of gutter journalism imaginable".

An online article with the headline "Rachelle Louise's new look as she waits for a bus in Surry Hills" also portrayed her as a bimbo, Mr Evatt said.

Another online opinion article by Sarah Le Marquand allegedly carried several defamatory imputations, including that she had no respect for the dead, Mr Evatt said.

"The plaintiff is a most compassionate and caring young woman," he said.

Ms Louise is expected to be the first witness at the trial, which continues before Judge Judith Gibson.