A second England footballer in the space of a week has won a High Court injunction banning newspaper revelations about his private life.
The Daily Mail reports on its front page today that the sportsman, who cannot be named, is a father in a long-term relationship. It reports that last night Mr Justice Nicol granted an order against a woman, who also cannot be named, from making revelations which would breach the footballer’s “right to private and family life”.
Last Friday another England footballer obtained an injunction to stop a Sunday newspaper making revelations about his private life, the Mail claimed.
Both of these incidents come on the heels of news that golfer Colin Montgomerie has also obtained such an injunction to stop an individual from making revelations in the press about his private life.
Earlier this week justice minister Lord McNally revealed that a Defamation Bill planned to be introduced next year could also contain provisions detailing UK privacy law for the first time.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “There has been a general consensus that a new piece of legislation that clarifies, consolidates and removes some of the more dangerous aspects of the way case law has grown up is something that is desirable.”
McNally said: “There was a danger that we were getting towards having privacy law by judicial decision. If we are going to have a privacy law it should be openly debated and freely decided by Parliament.”
McNally said that the wide-ranging “super-injunctions”, which were being used to protect privacy, were “something that has caused concern and is something that will be dealt with”.
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