'Womanising' sports star wins appeal to keep identity hidden

12 April 2012

A famous sportsman accused of being a serial womaniser today won a court order banning his name being revealed.

The "well known" figure successfully appealed against a previous court order which would have allowed the media to publish his name, but not
reveal the allegations against him.

Now the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger and two other Appeal Court judges have effectively reversed the order. The sports star, known as only JIH, "has for some time been in an apparently long-term and conventional relationship with a woman known in court as XX." Since their relationship started but before last August a story appeared in a red-top tabloid news-paper that JIH had been having sex with another woman known as YY.

This story was printed without JIH's permission and without him being given advance warning, the court heard.

Since then, Newsgroup newspapers - publishers of the Sun and News of the World - planned a second story based on claims by a third woman, ZZ, that she too had sex with JIH.

In August last year JIH's lawyers went to court to keep his name out of the papers on the grounds that it would invade his privacy and family life.

At a private hearing Mr Justice Nicol granted a temporary injunction. But at a full hearing in November, Mr Justice Tugendhat ruled that "the general principle of open justice" should ensure that in this case JIH should be identified but the allegations against him should not be revealed.

The sportsman appealed and today won his case. In his ruling Lord Neuberger underlined that "the cardinal importance of open justice" is contained not only in the European Convention of Human Rights but also in common law.

He stated that the "crucial factor" in this case was the first allegation of sexual infidelity published without JIH's permission. He said that the earlier story would make it relatively easy for the public to deduce the nature of the new allegations even if the details were not published.

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