Vanessa Perroncel ‘comes out against footballers using injunctions’

Vanessa Perroncel, the woman at the centre of the storm which erupted earlier this year around then England football captain John Terry’s attempts to gag the press, has spoken out about the use of injunctions by footballers to ‘cherry pick’ what newspapers write about them.

Perroncel told the Daily Mail that a number of footballers were prepared to divulge private information to the press as a way of keeping themselves in the limelight but she set herself against those that try to keep less flattering stories out of the press.

She added: “Why should these people then be allowed to cherry pick what the newspapers write about them?

“I know how expensive it is to take out an injunction, and it’s not fair that footballers should be allowed to protect themselves because of their money.”

Two leading footballers currently have injunctions preventing national newspapers from publishing details of their private lives.

However, moves are afoot within the Coalition Government to introduce legislation on privacy later this year along with amendments to current libel laws.

In a weekend of interviews, Perroncel denied having a relationship with Terry – as several national papers had suggested – and said that instead of attempting to gag the press he should have issued a flat denial of the accusations.

Perroncel charted the effect months of interest by tabloid newspapers had on her life in a long interview with The Observer this weekend.