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What price morality? Judge champions Max Mosley's right to hold S&M orgies
Last updated at 01:57am on 25.07.08
Victory: Max Mosley strides from the High Court after winning his privacy case against the News of the World
Max Mosley opened the back door to new privacy laws yesterday with a High Court judgment that championed his right to hold a spanking and bondage orgy with five prostitutes.
A judge awarded him £60,000 after deciding a newspaper intruded on the personal privacy of the son of Fascist leader Oswald Mosley when it secretly filmed the sadomasochistic session and claimed the party had a Nazi theme.
The ruling was being seen last night as a landmark in allowing highly restrictive privacy legislation to creep in from Europe, although Mr Justice Eady said his decision would not inhibit investigative journalism in the public interest.
It was also criticised as being against public morality - the judge said that even if people disapproved of an act on moral grounds, under human rights laws it did not matter as long as it was in private.
The revelation of Mr Mosley's S&M activities - which he kept a secret from his wife for 45 years - at one stage threatened his position as Formula One supremo and head of the prestigious FIA motorsport organisation.
The News of the World, which faces a legal bill approaching £1million, protested it was 'not for the rich and famous to dictate news agendas' simply because they had the money and power to gag a free press. Editor Colin Myler said the media was being ' strangled by stealth'.
Mr Mosley said the judgment 'nailed the Nazi lie upon which the newspaper sought to justify their disgraceful intrusion into my private life'.
But the 68-year-old father of two's extraordinary gamble in bringing the privacy case - which he knew would compel him to lay bare his bizarre sex life in court - will forever label him as the man who liked to be spanked.
The remarkable saga of Mr Mosley and the women he paid to act out his corporal punishment fantasies had unfolded over two weeks at the High Court in London.
Mr Mosley and four of the five women described in startlingly matter-of-fact detail what happened at parties they held in a Chelsea flat. The fifth woman was paid by the News of the World to film one of the sessions last March but never gave evidence in court.
Kinky sex games: (left to right) Woman D, Woman B and Woman C, above and a fourth, Woman A, all denied there was any Nazi element to the orgy
'Unconventional' was the word the 65-year-old judge chose to describe what he classed as Mr Mosley's sexual activities, which included being spanked and caned until he bled, having his bottom shaved in a mock medical examination, and taking orders from a German woman in a Luftwaffe jacket.
Miss E: The dominatrix who filmed the encounters with Mr Mosley for the tabloid for £12,000
But he decided Mr Mosley 'had a reasonable expectation of privacy' at the bondage, beating and domination party, which was held behind closed doors between consenting adults. Nor did he find any evidence of a Nazi theme, or that the participants were mocking victims of the Holocaust.
He accepted such behaviour was viewed by some with 'distaste and moral disapproval'. But that did not provide any justification for intrusion into Mr Mosley's personal privacy.
The £60,000 award is a record in a breach of privacy case. The previous highest was £14,600, awarded to Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones after they sued Hello! magazine for publishing photos of their 2000 wedding without consent.
But it was massively short of what Mr Mosley might have expected had the News of the World defence not demolished his claim for an 'exemplary' award. The judge was not persuaded it was right to apply punitive damages.
Outside court Mr Mosley faced a wall of TV cameras and reporters. None of the prostitutes who had laughed and joked in the public gallery, and whispered occasionally in his ear, was with him now. Nor, incidentally, were his absent wife and sons.
'By law we are all entitled to have our privacy respected,' he declared. The News of the World had 'dreamed up the most offensive headline possible', and decided not to contact him before publication to avoid an injunction.
Then its lawyers conducted the case 'so as to cause maximum embarrassment in the hope that I would be discouraged from continuing'.
Defiant: News of the World editor Colin Myler claimed the ruling was another example of the media being 'strangled by stealth' on privacy issues
He added: 'I hope my case will help deter newspapers in the UK from pursuing this type of invasive and salacious journalism. I have learned first-hand how devastating an invasion of privacy can be and how readily papers like the News of the World will destroy lives in the knowledge that few of their victims will dare sue them.'
Mr Myler said the newspaper believed its story was 'legitimate and lawful' and justified in the public interest.
Costly: The tabloid faces a total bill of more than £900,000
He added: 'As the elected head of the FIA, Mr Mosley is the leader of the richest sport in the world, with a global membership of almost 125 million. Taking part in depraved and brutal S&M orgies on a regular basis does not in our opinion constitute the fit and proper behaviour to be expected of someone in his hugely influential position.'
He added: 'It is not for the rich and the famous, the powerful and the influential, to dictate the news agenda, just because they have the money and the means to gag a free press.
'Unfortunately, our press is less free today after another judgment based on privacy laws emanating from Europe. How those very general laws should work in practice has never been debated in the UK Parliament.
'English judges are left to apply those laws to individual cases here using guidance from judges in Strasbourg who are unfriendly to freedom of expression. The result is that our media are being strangled by stealth.'
Despite Mr Justice Eady's assurance that 'there is nothing "landmark" about this decision', some legal experts expressed concern about its implications for journalists conducting legitimate investigations.
Enlarge 
Delighted: The F1 boss declared on the court steps that the judgement had 'nailed the Nazi lie' in the News of the World's story
Niri Shan, head of media at the Taylor Wessing law firm, said: 'The court has set a high hurdle for the media to jump over when publishing stories about an individual's personal or sex life.
'The media will have to prove that the publication was, for example, to expose illegal activity or to prevent the public from being significantly misled by previous public claims made by an individual.'
Mark Stephens, of law firm Stephens Finer Innocent, said the rich and powerful could try to use the case as a precedent to bring questionable claims against media organisations as a way of stifling negative coverage.
High life: Mr Mosley with F1 models in Barcelona. He faced calls for his resignation when the story was published earlier this year
Reader views (29)
It's pretty sordid but he wasn't doing anything illegal and he was doing it in private. He wasn't corrupting anyone, the other parties were consenting adults being paid for their time. It was no one elses business but his own. He has kept his preferences from his wife for 50 years presumably because they weren't for her. Fair enough, but now she and their family know courtesy of the NOTW. Bet they feel their lives have been enriched by cutting edge NOTW public interest journalism
- Elle, London, 25/07/2008 22:04
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My only complaint was with the tiny sum awarded as compensation. Perhaps the gross proceeds of sales on all the days when a story was published including the Nazi allegations would have been more suitable?
What people do in private is their own affair. If this leads to more restrictions on the press, it's their own fault.
- E Thomson, London, England, 25/07/2008 22:03
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A lot of people find homosexuality disgusting but are now forced to accept it for fear of investigation by the homophobic department of the police. I expect they'll set up an s&m department soon. anyway, what has someone's sexual proclivities got to do with the way they run a business?
- Leslie Otis, London, 25/07/2008 21:14
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If Max Moseley publicly denounced Sado-Masochism as a perversion, then was caught practising S&M, it would certainly be material for public consumption and denunciation of the public man.
As it is, frankly, as long as the participants are not co-erced or terrorised into performing these practices, he can do what he wants in private.
- Cap, lincoln, UK, 25/07/2008 18:56
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Morality and decency left this country some 30 years ago.Make a list of the grubby little politicians we have voted in from 1975 onwards and you'll need a large sheet of paper.With the examples you will find from sleaze under Major to dubious finances under Brown and Cameron you will feel that this grubby little episode is the norm.
- P Robinson, koeln germany, 25/07/2008 17:40
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Maybe you should leave if you feel that way Anne.
- Daveb, london, 25/07/2008 16:03
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"when was prostitution legalised in this country?"
Anne, prostitution is not illegal in the UK. Many things surrounding it are, but nothing that was associated with this story.
- Md, London, UK, 25/07/2008 15:57
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Sorry, I must have missed the announcement - when was prostitution legalised in this country? If he considers such behaviour acceptable, doesn't that call his judgement on other issues into question? What else is he up to that he considers acceptable? He was voted into power by the various motor organisations around the world, representing thousands, if not millions of ordinary people who don't find it acceptable to consort with prostitutes, rent flats for orgies, etc. I'm stunned by the reaction - what has happened to morality and decency in this country?
- Anne, London, 25/07/2008 14:27
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Delphine, we're all glad you have a great life. And that includes the freedom to enjoy yourself in private any way you care to, as long as it's legal. Any it's certainly none of our business, unless you wish to tell us about it!
- Haskey, London SE1, 25/07/2008 13:53
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As long as all parties are consenting, people should have the freedom to enjoy any kind of sex they choose. I can't help feeling that anyone who has a problem with this is simply projecting dissatisfaction with their own sex life...
- Charlie, Soho, 25/07/2008 13:43
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Good for him for standing up for his rights. He's been ridiculed in the public eye for his sexual preferences which quite frankly have nothing to do with anyone else. Perhaps some of the people attacking him as sick need to try some S&M they might even have some fun.
- David, London, 25/07/2008 12:59
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How many of us would like our bedroom activities published in the press? I agree that he has the right to do whatever he wants in private if it does not affect others.
- Mark, London, UK, 25/07/2008 12:38
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Much as I abhor Mr Mosley's pastime I feel the correct verdict has been reached. Whether or not there was a Nazi element (and I am Jewish) and whether or not he is as anti-Semitic as his parents he is not a public figure and there was nothing to be gained for the general public by filming and disclosing this to the nation. We all have a right to privacy and we should all have the right to not have to read certain rubbish spouted by the press particularly how the press has cultivated so called celebrities and how we can't seem to escape every waking moment of their lives if we want to read a newspaper.
- Louanne, London, 25/07/2008 12:03
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Delphine, Mosley wasn't "getting rewarded for his sordidness", he was getting compensated for a grotesque invasion of privacy and a truly disgusting libel contained in the headline of a multi-million-selling newspaper.
And not just a libel on Mosley, but on German people too - I hoped the now would lose from the moment the editor confessed that he didn't bother translating the German on the tape, because he just assumed that the language itself must have something "Nazi" about it.
Now that's "sordidness", and the paper was rightly hammered for it.
- Michael, London, 25/07/2008 10:10
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Delphine -- Mark's absolutely right...it's really none of your business what Mr Mosely gets up to in the privacy of his own dungeon (however sordid and ridiculous).
- M, London, 25/07/2008 07:23
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Send that man some more Viagra. Isn't it wonderful what advances in medical technology can do.
- George, London UK, 25/07/2008 00:23
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I'm pleased the Max Mosely won this case. His sexual preferences, whilst not my cup of tea, are a private matter. How this story can be "in the public interest" is beyond me. It is a matter for Mr Mosely and his family, not to be used as a profit making tool by the News of the World.
- Shirley, London, 24/07/2008 23:42
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I'm delighted that Max Mosley has won this battle with the News of the World and that it will cost that newspaper £900,000 in costs and damages. To claim that the story was in the 'public interest' is utterly ludicrous. Mr Mosley is entitled to a private sex life and the News of the World sought to embarrass him. Thankfully Mr Mosley fought back and gave them a bloodied nose. Wish there were more like him.
- Paul Wilson, London, UK, 24/07/2008 15:06
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Delphine,
Personally it's not for me but if that's what consenting adults want to do in the privacy of their own home between themselves is neither my business nor do I find it necessary to judge them unlike your good self.
- Mark, South-East London, 24/07/2008 15:02
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Mark, I have a great life. Does a life in your view have to include S&M?
- Delphine, Oxford, 24/07/2008 13:41
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£60k will pay for a decent 'party' for Max and his three lady friends ... and no need for a whip round.
- Paul, London, 24/07/2008 13:04
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should be a great party.
- Martin_Clerkenwell, london, 24/07/2008 13:00
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It's not outrageous. The paper told several very damaging outright lies.
It's neither here nor there what one thinks of Mosely's private life. The lies were damaging, so he is awarded damages. The law must be impartial. How would you have felt if a paper decided not just to print an expose of your private life but to damn you as a Nazi as well? To ruin your reputation simply for the sake of selling more papers and making more profits?
- Nigel, London, 24/07/2008 12:28
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Delphine,
Get a life!
- Mark, South-East London, 24/07/2008 12:13
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This newspaper makes it's money by ruining people's lives to provide entertainment for others. They should have been fined more.
- Bow Resident, London, 24/07/2008 12:04
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Well done Max. Fully deserved, the paper can not just create a story, and they have rightly been punished.
- Joanna Carling, london england, 24/07/2008 11:57
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His privacy was utterly violated and these damages are just. A man's private pleasures are no business of the general public. The now should pay exemplary damages to a charity.
- Neil, london uk, Airstrip ONE ., 24/07/2008 11:55
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Will be able to afford new whips now for his next session!
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 24/07/2008 11:47
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That is outrageous. To see this disgusting old pervert gloating and getting rewarded for his sordidness is a bit much.
- Delphine, Oxford, 24/07/2008 10:44
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