A former colleague of Dan Wootton has accused him of pretending to be a woman in flirty messages and tricking him into sending explicit images in a “catfishing” case, the High Court has heard.
It is alleged that in 2010 Wootton exchanged sexual messages with the claimant – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – while pretending to be “Maria Joseph”, and encouraged him to send explicit photographs and a video.
Wootton, a former Sun journalist, GB News presenter and Mail columnist who now runs his own brand on Substack called “Outspoken”, is accused of obtaining sexual images by deceit.
The claimant, known as YXN, has lodged civil proceedings against him “for damages for personal injuries and losses consequent on the defendant’s intentional infliction of harm, misuse of confidential information, infringement of privacy and deceit”.
At a hearing on Tuesday, Judge Roger Eastman said: “The claim relates to what is colloquially referred to as a catfishing exercise whereby a person alleged to be the defendant [Wootton] impersonated a fictitious person and induced the claimant into engaging in exchanges with that person of a sexualised nature.
“It transpired that the person was, as I say, completely fictitious and the claimant alleges that as a result of that activity he has suffered psychiatric damage.”
Tuesday’s hearing concerned an application by Wootton’s lawyers to set aside the anonymity order granted earlier this year to protect the identity of the claimant.
But the judge ruled that the order will remain in place, saying there is “clear evidence of potential adverse and serious adverse effect” on YXN if his identity published.
Justin Levinson, for the claimant, outlined the facts of his client’s claim in written submissions, saying: “In 2010, the defendant [Wootton] communicated with the claimant via email and WhatsApp and Facebook messages, deceitfully pretending to be a female by the name of Maria Joseph.
“The messages became flirtatious and sexualised.
“The defendant sent to the claimant photographs of a female, which he falsely pretended was Maria Joseph/the person with whom the claimant was communicating. Some of the photographs showed the female partially or fully naked.
“The defendant also sent to the claimant a video of a man and woman having sexual intercourse, again pretending that the female was Maria Joseph/the person with whom the claimant was communicating.”
Levinson continued: “In reliance on the defendant’s purported good faith, flattering and in the induced belief that he was communicating with Maria Joseph, an unknown female who was interested in a sexual relationship with the claimant, the claimant responded to the messages in a flirtatious and sexualised manner.
“The defendant encouraged the claimant to send explicit photographs and a video of himself masturbating, which he did.”
Samuel Rowe, for Wootton, said in written submissions that the Metropolitan Police and Police Scotland investigated Wootton over the allegation that he used fake online identities to obtain explicit images without consent and decided to take no further action.
But on Tuesday Levinson said that, as far as he was aware, those investigations did not relate to the claimant’s complaint but to other similar allegations.
Wootton, who did not appear at the hearing, has not yet filed a formal defence and no admissions have been made to the allegations, the court heard.
Dino Nocivelli, from law firm Leigh Day, said: “In hearing Dan Wootton’s application that my client’s anonymity order should be removed and his identity revealed, the court has heard the allegations of ‘catfishing’ against Dan Wootton and that he allegedly procured sexual images by deceitful means from my client.
“Although the alleged abuse my client has suffered does not afford him the automatic right to anonymity that is granted to victims of sexual assaults, we have successfully argued today that the anonymity order should stay in place to prevent compounding and aggravating the very matters that give rise to my client’s claim.”
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