Big Brother star denies blackmail claims in injunction battle

Imogen Thomas fails to overturn gagging order surrounding unnamed Premier League footballer The Big Brother star who on Monday failed to overturn a high court gagging order brought by a Premier League footballer denied accusations that she attempted to blackmail the player. Imogen Thomas, 28, denies attempting to solicit £100,000, a signed football shirt, and matchday tickets from the high-profile footballer in order not to speak out about their alleged six-month affair. Mr Justice Eady on Monday refused a joint bid by Thomas and the Sun newspaper to overturn the high-profile footballer’s privacy injunction — before setting out his reasons for doing so in an eight-page judgment. Eady said there was “ample reason not to trust” Thomas, and said the evidence before the court on 14 April “appeared strongly to suggest that the claimant [the anonymous footballer] was being blackmailed”. He later records that she denies asking the footballer for money and that he has come to no conclusion on the allegation. The footballer accused Thomas of repeatedly demanding £50,000 from the footballer in March. He agreed to meet her “in a hotel where he was staying” in April. There he gave her “a signed football shirt” but said he was not prepared to give her “the sum of £50,000″. She asked to see him again shortly afterwards to which “he agreed with reluctance” and provided her with some football tickets. Although the position was “by no means clear” Mr Justice Eady said he believed that evidence “appeared to suggest” that the reality TV star arranged two hotel meetings with the player apparently “in collaboration with photographers and/or journalists”. The player claimed that on 13 April, he texted Thomas to say that he might be willing to offer her some money after all. At this point, Thomas is accused of attempting to solicit £100,000 from the player. “The evidence before the court at that point, therefore, appeared strongly to suggest that the claimant was being blackmailed (although that is not how he put it himself),” Eady said on Monday. “I hasten to add, as is obvious, that I cannot come to any final conclusion about it at this stage. I have to make an assessment of the situation on the limited (and untested) evidence as it now stands.” However, Eady added: “I now wish to make it clear that, shortly before this judgment was handed down, Mr Price [David Price QC, Thomas's lawyer] stated on his client’s behalf that she denies either causing the publication in the Sun on 14 April or asking the claimant for money.” Eady ruled the footballer, who brought the privacy injunction last month, is “entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy”, and that there has been “no countervailing argument” to suggest that the rights of Thomas and the Sun to freedom of expression should prevail. He added that there was “no suggestion of any legitimate public interest in publishing” the story. In a ruling likely to have far-reaching consequences for similar so-called “kiss and tell” stories, Eady ruled that “as in so many kiss and tell cases … the answer is not far to seek”. The Sun, he said, had not even argued that the story was in the public interest. Eady added: “The majority of cases over the last few years … would appear to be of the so-called ‘kiss and tell’ variety and they not infrequently involve blackmailing threats. Blackmail is, of course, a crime and in that context the courts have long afforded anonymity to those targeted as a matter of public policy. This has not hitherto been questioned.” Thomas was in court for the ruling on Monday. In a statement on behalf of Thomas by her lawyer, the Big Brother star said she was “stunned” with how she was portrayed in the ruling. In a statement released just after the hearing, she said: “What’s more I can’t even defend myself because I have been gagged. If this is the way privacy injunctions are supposed to work there is something seriously wrong with the law.” • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . Media law Privacy & the media The Sun News International National newspapers Newspapers Newspaper formats Superinjunctions Premier League Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 16, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.