CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian man who alleges Google defamed him has won a court battle to sue the search engine giant.

Milorad "Michael" Trkulja was shot in the back in 2004 in a restaurant in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city.

The Australian High Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled in favor of Trkulja, supporting his claim that a Google search of his name could indicate to an ordinary person he was "somehow associated with the Melbourne criminal underworld."

Trkulja had successfully argued in the Victoria state Supreme Court in 2012 that Google defamed him by publishing photos of him linked to hardened criminals of Melbourne's underworld.

Four years later, the Victorian Court of Appeal overturned the decision, finding the case had no prospect of successfully proving defamation.