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Ryan Giggs 'accepts Imogen Thomas was not a blackmailer'
Former Big Brother star speaks of her relief after footballer drops blackmail accusation
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- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 December 2011 18.54 GMT
- Article history
Former Big Brother star Imogen Thomas has spoken of her relief after the high court was told there was no basis for claims that she had attempted to blackmail one of the UK's most famous footballers.
The high profile player sought an injunction after the Sun accused Thomas of having an affair with an unnamed married Premier League star.
Earlier this year, after a footballer who had obtained a privacy injunction was named by 75,000 people on Twitter, Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming used parliamentary privilege to name him as Ryan Giggs.
The gagging order, which prevented the publication of his name, was granted on the basis that the model and reality TV star appeared to be trying to blackmail him.
But her lawyer, David Price QC, told the high court on Thursday that the footballer had accepted there was no basis on which to accuse her of blackmail.
In Thursday's hearing, the judge, Mr Justice Eady, asked Price whether "there is no longer any point in maintaining the anonymity".
But Thomas's lawyers made no attempt to lift the gagging order and the footballer was referred to as "CTB" throughout the proceedings.
Price said the footballer "accepts there is no basis to accuse Ms Thomas of blackmail" and said the allegation was "not how CTB had put it himself".
Thomas had been accused of allegedly blackmailing the footballer at an earlier hearing in May in which the judge, Mr Eady, explained why he had imposed a gagging order preventing the naming of the married footballer.
Price said the blackmail allegation was "widely and prominently reported by the media as if it were established fact. This was not correct. It has been extremely damaging and distressing to Ms Thomas."
In a statement read outside the high court, Thomas said: "To suddenly have to defend my character because of this legal process has been extremely upsetting and stressful.
"I'm just relieved that the parties and the court now accept that I'm no blackmailer. I have been vindicated and that's all I wanted. I have nothing to add – it's all behind me now."
CTB and News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun, were not represented in court.
Lawyers emphasised later that the injunction preventing Thomas revealing details about the alleged relationship remained in place and that, as part of the resolution of CTB's claim against her, she had agreed to be bound by a final order in similar terms to the existing injunction.
Price told the court that the claim arose out of an article printed in the Sun on 14 April, which named Thomas but did not name CTB.
As a result of concerns about the future conduct of the Sun, CTB sought an interim injunction later that day.
"In his witness statement supporting the application, CTB stated that Ms Thomas's conduct had led him to suspect that she was thinking of selling her story to the press.
"He also said that she had asked him for money to assist in the purchase of a flat and that he had become suspicious about her motivation.
"He was also concerned that she had retained the well-known publicist Max Clifford to represent her."
Price said Mr Eady had granted the footballer an injunction, partly on the basis that the "evidence appeared to suggest that CTB was being blackmailed, although that was not how CTB had put it himself".
Price added: "The Sun has now made it clear that Ms Thomas was not responsible for the article of 14 April.
"CTB accepts this and also accepts that Ms Thomas did not wish any private information to be published. She had, in fact, retained Max Clifford to try to prevent a story from coming out.
"Ms Thomas, in turn, accepts that the decision to publish her name was taken by the Sun, and that CTB did not want that to happen.
"Ms Thomas denies that she asked CTB for money and says that he offered to assist her in the flat purchase. Whatever the difference in recollection between the parties, CTB now accepts that such discussions were not linked to any threat to disclose information to the media.
"In these circumstances, CTB accepts that there is no basis to accuse Ms Thomas of blackmail. He also accepts that her conduct in the period leading up to the publication of the Sun article was motivated by a desire to avoid the publication of private information.
"CTB and Ms Thomas have now resolved matters between them. Ms Thomas did not want to disclose private information concerning CTB. That remains her position now that the record has been set straight."
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
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