Ex-lover of Rio Ferdinand sobs in court over Sunday Mirror phone hacking
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Version 0 of 1. A Virgin Atlantic flight attendant said she felt “completely and utterly sickened” when the Sunday Mirror revealed her relationship with the footballer Rio Ferdinand after hacking her phone. Lauren Alcorn told the high court in London on Tuesday that the exposé “changed the course of my life” and led to her being kicked out of the family home. Growing tearful in the witness box, Alcorn said she was shocked to discover that her voicemails had been intercepted over the course of four years: “I’m a very private person. I’ve never ever wanted to be in the public eye – even walking into court today is my worst nightmare. “Just to know that all my private information has been listened to over so many years, such personal and private information like talking about the death of my father … it’s just upsetting.” Alcorn is one of eight phone-hacking victims suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and the People, for damages. MGN has admitted that three articles were the product of phone hacking, including a Sunday Mirror article in January 2003 headlined: “Rio playing away” that revealed their relationship. It was assumed I was a bad influence and the reason [Ferdinand] missed his drugs test. I felt completely hounded “Ultimately it was this story that changed the course of my life and affected me very deeply,” Alcorn said. “[It was] deeply, deeply embarrassing to have your private sex life spoken about in such a manner.” She said the article made her “look like a home wrecker”. “I was very embarrassed that it would be read by [airline] crew members and passengers – just completely and utterly sickening really.” The publisher has admitted that her voicemails were intercepted for another Sunday Mirror story in October 2003, headlined: “Football in crisis: Rio phone sensation”, reporting that Ferdinand had spoken on the phone to Alcorn on the day he missed his drugs test. Asked by her barrister, David Sherborne, how she felt about this story, Alcorn said: “People that I barely even know were questioning me to give information because they felt there was more to know, and it was assumed I was a bad influence and the reason he missed his drugs test. I felt completely hounded and bombarded by questioning from complete strangers.” She told the court that she began a relationship with Ferdinand in 2000, when she was 19, after meeting him in a Nottingham nightclub called Faces. Under cross-examination by MGN’s counsel, Matthew Nicklin QC, Alcorn said the articles had caused “long-lasting damage”, including losing the trust of Ferdinand and her close friends, and having to move out of the family home due to the perceived embarrassment brought upon them. “I’m an extremely private person and also very professional at work, and this is very, very distressing for me. Now to relive it years after it’s been dead and buried …,” she said, sobbing. “I did say to my solicitors that if it ever gets to court I don’t think I can come, because I can’t tell you how stressful I’m finding it. To have to read through those articles again is just horrible.” |