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15 May 2008

Hurley and Grant win privacy claim

Photo agencies apologise and pay damages for Maldives holiday snaps

Actress Elizabeth Hurley, her husband Arun Nayur, and actor Hugh Grant today received an apology, £25,000 in damages and payment of their legal costs from photographic agencies Big Pictures Ltd and Eliot Press SARL for photographs taken of them holidaying in the Maldives.

In October last year, Eliot Press obtained covertly taken photographs of Ms Hurley, Mr Nayur and Mr Grant on holiday in a private resort.  Ms Hurley’s son, to whom Grant is godfather, was also present. Photographs of the group appeared in the News of the World and The Mail on Sunday and were also offered to a number of other newspapers and celebrity magazines.

Separate claims against the newspapers were settled by agreement, but proceedings were brought against the photographic agencies.

In a Statement in Open Court read to the High Court today, Solicitor Laura Tyler told Mr Justice Eady that “it has been most upsetting for the Claimants to have their privacy invaded”. The photographic agencies accepted that the photographs should not have been taken and that their actions were an invasion of privacy. They apologised unequivocally to the three.

In total, the three have now received £58,000 in damages for the photographs.

5RB’s Richard Parkes QC and Anna Coppola (instructed by Schillings) acted for the Claimants. Matthew Nicklin (instructed by Solomon Taylor & Shaw) acted for Big Pictures Limited.

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