The day free speech drowned in a paddling pool of olive oil… outrage at gagging verdict
Four Supreme Court justices sparked fury after ruling celebrity olive oil-fuelled 'three-way' injunction should be upheld
TOP judges sparked fury yesterday by ruling a court gag should stay in force banning The Sun on Sunday detailing a celeb’s olive oil-fuelled “three-way” with another couple.
Within minutes, the name of the celebrity involved saw a 9,000 per cent surge in social media views.
Four Supreme Court justices, in their late 50s, 60s and early 70s, said the star and his famous spouse should have their privacy protected.
That was despite millions already knowing the pair’s identities worldwide, the court said.
The ruling, granted partly because of the possible impact on the couple’s children, paves the way for other celebs to use the new case law to hush up their cheating.
The judges said there was no public interest in knowing of stars’ “private sexual encounters”, even if they included adultery and threesomes.
One judge backed our right to publish — warning the court risked losing “public respect for the law”.
We earlier revealed the star, known only as PJS, splashed with two lovers in a paddling pool filled with olive oil.
Cheaters’ charter
CELEBS were yesterday granted a cheaters’ charter as Britain’s top judges ruled they had a legal right to keep their romps secret.
In a staggering judgment, four Supreme Court justices said there was no public interest in stars’ sexual encounters, even if it included adultery and threesomes.
The panel said a court gag banning The Sun on Sunday from revealing details of a celebrity’s olive oil-fuelled three-way with another couple should stay in force.
Within seconds, the celebrity and his famous partner were named across social media.
The name of the star who took part in the threesome saw a 9,000 per cent surge in social media views.
And hundreds made jokes about the pair — but we are not legally able to publish the comments.
The star, known as PJS, and his millionaire spouse, dubbed YMA, have children and regularly court publicity through them.
But Britain’s highest court said their privacy should be protected, partly because of the possible impact upon their kids.
That was despite millions of people worldwide already knowing who they are, the court said.
It paves the way for other celebrities to use the new case law to hush up their cheating.
Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke last night said: “This looks like a cheaters’ charter. The ridiculous thing is that virtually every single person knows who it is.
“It is making a mockery of the legal system. This is just someone who got too randy and doesn’t want people to know.”
Last night, some of the UK’s most notorious privacy lawyers were swift to crow over the judgment.
In 2008, Dominic Crossley acted for ex-F1 boss Max Mosley, who paid for an orgy with five hookers.
Mr Crossley said: “Publication by The Sun on Sunday would have been a serious breach of the rights of PJS and family members and the Supreme Court is to be commended.
“The Sun on Sunday and other tabloids hoped this case would mark the death knell for the privacy injunctions. In fact it has given them new life.”
The Supreme Court ruling overturned a judgment by the Court of Appeal which said the temporary privacy injunction should be lifted.
It said the lower court had given too much weight to The Sun’s freedom of expression rights and added PJS was likely to win a permanent gagging order if it went to trial.
The four justices who ruled in favour of PJS were Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger, 68, Deputy President Lady Hale, 71, Lord Mance, 72, and Lord Reed, 59.
Just one, Lord Toulson, 69, backed The Sun’s right to publish, saying the court risked losing “public respect by giving the appearance of being out of touch with reality”.
He said: “The court must live in the world as it is and not as it would like to be.”
While admitting PJS’s behaviour was a “tawdry story”, Lord Mance said: “There is no public interest, however much it may be of interest to some members of the public, in publishing kiss-and-tell stories of criticisms of private sexual conduct, simply because the persons involved are well-known.”
But he said PJS’s identity being shared globally meant many would now see the law as “an ass”.
He added: “It is unlikely the heavens will fall at our decision. It will simply give the appellant, his partner and their children a measure of protection against further invasions of privacy.”
The Sun has previously revealed how PJS’s romps included splashing in a paddling pool filled with olive oil with his two lovers.
But Lord Mance still backed his right to privacy, citing previous court claims by shamed sex scandal stars such as John Terry and Mosley.
He conceded it was different if the person’s sexual behaviour had some bearing on their job if they held public office.
Also backing the gagging order, Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger said if PJS was only worried about his confidentiality, the scale of the global publicity would render that pointless. He said newspapers carried greater influence, credibility and reach, as well as greater potential for intrusion than the web.
Lord Neuberger added: “The courts exist to protect legal rights, even when their protection is difficult or unpopular.”
Lady Hale added it was for PJS and YMA to tell their children about PJS’s threesome.
Last night, media and ethics expert Professor Tim Crook, of Goldsmiths, University of London, said: “Judges and courtrooms must avoid becoming state censors of truthful information.
“Scandal and what lawyers and judges call sordid tittle tattle is another person’s right to know and a way of setting a perception of equality in an unequal world.”
Media lawyer Kim Waite, of law firm RPC, said: “Public indignation about privacy injunctions is growing.
“Today’s decision has put the British press in a unique and unenviable position of being the only media in the world who cannot publish the details of this case.
“Arguing that one’s children should be protected from embarrassment remains a highly relevant factor in whether a court will grant a privacy injunction.
“Other celebrities with children may well seek to use this argument.”
According to analytics tool Brand24, the cheater’s name was seen by more than 78,000 people on Twitter yesterday compared to just 846 the day before.
In 2013, Attorney General Dominic Grieve warned social media users against contempt of court breaches by commenting on legal cases.
He said: “Blogs and social media mean individuals can now reach thousands with a single post.
“This is an exciting prospect, but it can pose certain challenges to the criminal justice system.”
Jeremy Clarkson, who used an injunction in 2011 to prevent his ex-wife Alex Hall from alleging they had sex while he was married to his previous wife Frances, admitted injunctions do not work.
He said: “You take out an injunction and immediately news of that injunction and the people involved and the story behind the injunction is in a legal-free world on Twitter.”
Freedom of speech campaigner and ex-Lib Dem MP John Hemming said: “Obviously the Government is in a position to pass legislation to free up speech in the UK. That is what needs to happen.”
Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, said: “It is wrong that people in England and Wales cannot read in the media of their choice whatever everyone else in the world knows already.
“If we are about to become involved in activity that would be embarrassing if revealed, we should perhaps think twice before indulging in it in the first place.”
A known radical
BARONESS Hale, who voted to gag The Sun, is known for her radical liberal ideas including removing adultery as grounds for divorce.
The senior judge, 71, nicknamed Ms Diversity, has also called for judges to be given the right to allow people be helped to commit suicide.
Her first name is Brenda, her dad was a headmaster, she was educated at Girton College, Cambridge.
Her hobbies include making jam and doing puzzles.
She is not thought to read The Sun despite taking a view on what tabloid readers are allowed to know about.
She has said she wakes to Radio 4 and falls asleep to the BBC’s World Service.
It won’t go away
LORD Toulson was the only Supreme Court justice to side with The Sun on Sunday.
He said: “In the world in which PJS lives, knowledge of the story must be commonplace and it is apparent the circle of those who know is much wider.
“The story in its essential details has been published in a major Scottish newspaper, it has been widely accessible on websites and Twitter, and anyone who seriously wanted to know PJS’s identity will have had ways of finding it.
“The story is not going to go away, injunction or no injunction. It is a fact of life that stories about celebrities sometimes acquire their own momentum.”