''Ferdinand v Mirror Group Newspapers'' is a 2011 High Court case in which the English footballer

Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and w ...

was unsuccessful in preventing the publication of a tabloid newspaper story revealing details of an alleged sexual relationship.

Background

On 25 April 2010, the '' Sunday Mirror'' ran an article entitled "My Affair with England Captain Rio", in which interior designer Carly Storey gave an account of an alleged relationship with

. Ferdinand described the article as "gross invasion of my privacy" and brought legal action in which he sought damages and a worldwide injunction against further publication. Ferdinand said that he had not met Ms. Storey for six years at the time of publication of the ''Sunday Mirror'' article, and had exchanged

text messages Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...

with her between that time and his appointment as captain of the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

in February 2010. He claimed that there had been a misuse of private information. Ms. Storey received a payment of £16,000 for her interview with the ''Sunday Mirror'', which had been sold to the newspaper after she had contacted the publicist

Max Clifford Maxwell Frank Clifford (6 April 1943 – 10 December 2017) was an English publicist who was particularly associated with promoting " kiss and tell" stories in tabloid newspapers. In December 2012, as part of Operation Yewtree, Clifford was arr ...

. Lawyers acting for Mirror Group Newspapers argued that he had been appointed as captain of the England football team on the basis that he was a "reformed and responsible" character. The case centred on whether the ''Sunday Mirror'' had a public interest defence based on

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides the right to Freedom of Expression and Information. A fundamental aspect of this right is the freedom to hold opinions and receive and impart information and ideas, even if the receive ...

, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, or whether Ferdinand was entitled to privacy in accordance with

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides a right to respect for one's "private and family life, his home and his correspondence", subject to certain restrictions that are "in accordance with law" and " necessary in a democrati ...

, which guarantees the right to respect for private and family life On 29 September 2011, Mr. Justice Nicol ruled in favour of the defendant, Mirror Group Newspapers, saying: "Overall, in my judgment, the balancing exercise favours the defendant's right of freedom of expression over the claimant's right of privacy." Lawyers acting for Ferdinand issued a statement saying that he was "extremely disappointed" with the decision, and announced an intention to appeal. Costs in the case were estimated at around £500,000.

Tina Weaver Tina Weaver is a British journalist and former National Newspaper editor. Weaver started her career at the South West News Service, then worked for the '' Sunday People'' from 1989 to 1992 becoming Chief Reporter before spending a year at the ''Da ...

, the editor of the ''Sunday Mirror'', commented: "There has never been greater scrutiny of the media than now, and we applaud this ruling in recognising the important role a free press has to play in a democratic society." Media commentators described the victory of the ''Sunday Mirror'' in the case as significant in the wake of the

News International phone hacking scandal The News International phone hacking scandal was a controversy involving the now-defunct ''News of the World'' and other British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police b ...

and the

2011 British privacy injunctions controversy The British privacy injunctions controversy began in early 2011, when London-based tabloid newspapers published stories about anonymous celebrities that were intended to flout what are commonly (but not formally) known in English law as super-in ...

.{{Cite news , last=Robinson , first=James , date=3 October 2011 , title=Rio Ferdinand's court defeat was a big win for tabloids , work=

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/03/rio-ferdinand-court-defeat-tabloids?newsfeed=true , access-date=16 March 2022

References

External links

Mirror eludes Ferdinand offside trap, but it's no reprieve for 'kiss and tell'
The Guardian, 30 September 2011. 2011 in England 2011 in British law English privacy case law Legal history of the United Kingdom High Court of Justice cases Reach plc

Background

See also

References

External links