Mosley wins landmark lawsuit over orgy claims

Reuters

LEGAL ACTION: Motor racing chief Max Mosley has launched legal action against a British tabloid, denying involvement in a "sick Nazi orgy" but saying he had an interest in sado-masochistic sex.

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World motorsport chief Max Mosley has won STG60,000 ($NZ163,488) in a landmark privacy case against a British tabloid that claimed he indulged in a "sick Nazi orgy".

High Court judge David Eady ordered Rupert Murdoch's top-selling Sunday tabloid the News of the World to pay Mosley STG60,000 in damages plus cover his estimated STG450,000 legal bill.

The 68-year-old father of two sued the newspaper for gross invasion of privacy after it published sensational claims about what it described as a "sick Nazi orgy" involving Mosley and five prostitutes.

The paper paid STG12,000 to a dominatrix, known as Woman E, to secretly film Mosley in a basement flat in the posh inner London suburb of Chelsea where he indulged in a five-hour S&M session last March.

While the president of the Federation Internationale de l'Autosport (FIA) admitted taking part in the orgy and paying the prostitutes, he denied the paper's claims that it involved Nazi overtones.

Speaking to reporters outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Mosley, whose father was the 1930s British Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, expressed relief at his legal win.

"I would like to say that I am delighted with the judgment which is devastating for the News of the World," he said.

"It demonstrates that their Nazi lie was completely invented and had no justification.

"It also shows that they had no right to go into private premises and take pictures and film of adults engaged in activities which are no one's business but those of the people involved."

Mosley, who plans to donate the damages to the FIA Foundation to help with the charity's work on road safety and environmental programs, added that he hoped the case would deter newspapers from "pursuing this type of invasive and salacious journalism".

His win could have major implications for the British media and the country's privacy laws.

During the trial, Mosley argued that neither he nor the prostitutes had broken any laws during the orgy, that each had been a consenting participant and that the newspaper's sting was a gross invasion of his privacy.

Justice Eady said because there was no evidence that Mosley had imitated the behaviour of Nazis, there was no justification for the newspaper to print its claims or publish on the internet a video of the orgy.

"There was bondage, beating and domination which seem to be typical of S and M behaviour," the judge said.

"But there was no public interest or other justification for the clandestine recording, for the publication of the resulting information and still photographs, or for the placing of the video extracts on the News of the World website all of this on a massive scale.

"Of course, I accept that such behaviour is viewed by some people with distaste and moral disapproval, but in the light of modern rights-based jurisprudence that does not provide any justification for the intrusion on the personal privacy of the claimant.

"No amount of damages can fully compensate Mr Mosley for the damage done.

"He is hardly exaggerating when he says his life was ruined."

However, Justice Eady decided not to make an unprecedented award of punitive exemplary damages that Mosley had sought in an attempt to stop newspapers publishing similar stories.

News of the World editor Colin Myler, who during the seven-day trial argued there was a legitimate public interest in publishing the story, said the newspaper was pleased at the lack of punitive damages.

However, he warned that the media was "less free today after another judgment based on privacy laws emanating from Europe".

"The result is that our media are being strangled by stealth.

"That is why the News of the World will remain committed to fighting for (readers') right to know."

- AAP