Legal News

John Terry superinjuction scrapped by judge
Fri 29th Jan 10 - 16:40

David Sanderson, Times Online, Friday 29th January.

John Terry, the England captain, is bracing himself for damaging revelations about his private life after a High Court judge overturned a controversial superinjunction sought by the footballer.

Lawyers for Mr Terry had successfully applied for a High Court injunction last Friday having learnt that a Sunday newspaper planned publish revelations about the Chelsea captain.

The so-called superinjunction, which prevents even the existence of the injunction from being known, has previously been used by the oil trading company Trafigura to stop newspapers reporting a parliamentary question about its involvement in the dumping of toxic materials in the Ivory Coast.

At the High Court today Mr Justice Tugendhat ruled that the injunction was not proportionate to the damage that would be caused to the private lives of the footballer and other parties if the revelations were published.

Mr Justice Tugendhat added that the other person concerned was also a “famous person” but not in the world of sport.

The allegations are set to raise fresh questions about Mr Terry’s suitability to captain England at the forthcoming World Cup Finals.

Last month he was given a stern reminder of his responsibilities as captain from a senior member of England’s coaching team. It followed allegations, denied by the player, that he was paid £10,000 for offering a secret tour of Chelsea’s training ground.

In recent months he has endured a spate of humiliating headlines about his family members. His father Ted was filmed allegedly arranging to pass a Class A drug to an undercover reporter, while his mother, Sue, and Sue Poole, his mother-in-law, were cautioned for shoplifting after being caught with £800 worth of clothes and groceries from Tesco and Marks & Spencer.