Picture agency First News is being sued by David and Victoria
Beckham over aerial pictures taken of their home showing a lavish
£120,000 playground the couple were building without planning
permission, writes Sarah Lagan .
When First News director Nick
Stern sold the pictures to the News of the World in November, the
planning authority was still investigating. In the following days the
pictures were published in media including the Daily Mail and Daily
Express, by which time the local authority had confirmed the Beckhams
had no permission. The couple were asked to stop building and told to
apply for retrospective permission.
Stern then received a fax
from lawyers Harbottle and Lewis informing him they were going to issue
proceedings against him alleging the pictures violated Article 8 Human
Rights Act, the right to privacy and family life.
Stern has, as requested, removed the pictures from the agency website.
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