Campbell wins appeal

Naomi Campbell today won a historic victory for privacy over a newspaper report of her treatment for drug addiction.

Campbell, 33, who gave evidence in person during the Law Lords hearing in February, was in Rome when the judgment was made. Her solicitor informed her of her victory by phone.

The ruling will heap further pressure on Mirror editor Piers Morgan, already under fire over the authenticity of photographs of alleged torture by British troops in Iraq.

The model sued the Mirror after it reported she was under therapy for drug addiction, to prove her repeated denial that she was an addict was a lie. The paper published a photo of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in Chelsea in February 2001.

In court Campbell admitted the paper was entitled to publish the fact she was a drug addict and having counselling, but claimed details of her therapy were confidential. The Mirror said she had denied using drugs even though she had been an addict for four years, and described her as "manipulative and deceitful".

Mr Morgan said he had rejected the idea of exposing her as a liar in favour of a sympathetic story on her desire to tackle her drug problems. But High Court judge Mr Justice Morland ruled that the Mirror had breached the model's confidentiality and made a breach of duty under the 1998 Data Protection Act. This decision was overturned in the Appeal Court which held that the Mirror was right to publish because she had lied about her drug past and had courted publicity about it.

Today the Law Lords reinstated the original court decision. Lord Creswell, who backed the model, described the Mirror as going "significantly beyond" recording the truth about her addiction which "constituted such an intrusion into her private affairs" that the paper's defence could not be justified.

He was supported by Lord Hope and Baroness Hale. Lord Hope called the picture a "gross interference with her right to respect for a private life" which more than outweighed the Mirror's right to freedom of expression.

Lord Hoffman, in favour of the Mirror, said publishing the article without the picture of Campbell leaving the meeting "ignored the realities of this kind of journalism". He added:

"Photographs are an essential part of the story. The picture carried the message more strongly than anything in the text alone." He was supported by Lord Nicholls.

Commenting on the judgment, Mr Morgan said: "This is a good day for lying drug-abusing prima donnas who want to have their cake with the media, and the right to then shamelessly guzzle it with their Cristal champagne.

"Five senior judges found for the Mirror throughout the various hearings, four for Naomi Campbell. Yet she wins. If ever there was a less deserving case for creating what is effectively a back-door privacy law it would be Ms Campbell, but that's showbiz."

The model's lawyer Keith Schilling said: "Miss Campbell is delighted by today's verdict. It represents a real advantage for the rights of people to maintain important elements of their privacy."