Gag of the Day: Footballer gets injunction as Telegraph says 80 gag orders granted in six years

Another married England footballer obtained a gagging order last night to keep details of his private life secret, the Daily Mail reports today.

The Mail says: "The father, who plays for a leading Premier League club, became the latest celebrity to use human rights legislation to hide details of his indiscretions with another woman from the public."

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph reports:"The rich and the famous have obtained almost 80 gagging orders in British courts in six years, blocking the publication of intimate details about their private lives."

It adds: "Judges are issuing privacy injunctions at an increasing rate, with a total of 18 orders granted already this year compared with just five in the whole of 2005. They have also issued 12 super-injunctions, which ban the media from referring to their existence.

"The Daily Telegraph analysed all secrecy orders and injunctions issued in the past six years, prompted by suggestions that the orders are increasingly being used by the courts to enforce a privacy law by the backdoor”.

The Daily Telegraph’s audit found:

• Nine footballers, nine actors, four pop stars, six wealthy businessmen and women, a senior civil servant and an MP have obtained injunctions;
• Just three High Court judges have granted more than a third of the injunctions between them;
• Schillings, the media law firm, has obtained more than 20 of the orders and been paid an estimated £2 million;
• One super-injunction is so binding that even the name of the judge has been kept secret. He can be referred to only as Mr Justice [xxxx];
• A raft of previously unpublished injunctions has been uncovered, including an international pop star who obtained a gagging order to prevent a former employee revealing details about her private life.