Footballer injunction: Scottish newspaper editor 'did not take decision lightly'

A Scottish national newspaper has named a footballer who allegedly had an affair with model Imogen Thomas and obtained an injunction to protect him from being identified in the press.

The Sunday Herald devoted the front page of today's edition to a large picture of the footballer's face with a black band and the word "censored" across his eyes.

The band does little to mask the player's identity however.

Below the picture on the newspaper's front page is the text:

"Everyone knows that this is the footballer accused of using the courts to keep allegations of a sexual affair secret. But we weren't supposed to tell you that ..."

The Herald is the first mainstream UK newspaper to name the footballer in relation to the Imogen Thomas case.

Herald editor Richard Walker told Journalism.co.uk today that he "did not take the decision lightly", but said that he was "absolutely confident of his position" when the newspaper went to print.

"The legal position is absolutely clear, we don't publish in England and we are not covered by the superinjunction."

The player is named in a news article inside the paper and the wider issue of injunctions is addressed in an editorial.

Neither the image, editorial or article were published online in order to prevent the newspaper being accused of distributing outside of Scotland.

Asked what led to the decision over today's front page, Walker said:

"We were doing a big package in the newspaper on the ridiculous situation that newspapers currently face, in that they can't publish information that everyone can access within seconds, and it seemed that this was a way to highlight that.

"Let me be clear, we are not interested in at all in the allegations or the truth of the allegations.

"What we are interested in is the situation that newspapers are currently prevented from publishing information that everyone can access within seconds.

"Who doesn't know the name of that person? And how long would it be before they found out?"

The player identified by the Herald has been named repeatedly on Twitter over the last few days.

He is believed to be the same player who launched launched legal proceedings against Twitter and several of its users earlier in the week. Named in court documents only as "CTB", the player pursuing the social network is understood to be taking action over an account on the site that purported to name several celebrities that had allegedly taken out superinjunctions or anonymised injunctions.

The claim follows a high court hearing on Monday, in which Thomas and News Group Newspapers, which publishes the Sun and the News of the World, tried and failed to have the right to anonymity of "CTB" overturned.

Mr Justice Eady, who issued a temporary injunction in the case in March, ruled against the newspaper, arguing in a written statement that there was "no suggestion of any legitimate public interest in publishing such material".

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).