Max Mosley has won his privacy case against News Group Newspapers in a judgement handed down in the High Court this morning (24 July).

The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Eady, ruled in favour of FIA president Max Mosley, who sued the publishers of News of the World over an article by Neville Thurlbeck in March with the headline 'F1 BOSS HAS SICK NAZI ORGY WITH 5 HOOKERS'.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Eady said: "The claimant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to sexual activities (albeit unconventional) carried on between consenting adults on private property."

However, Eady went on to say: "Nor can it seriously be suggested that the case is likely to inhibit serious investigative journalism into crime or wrongdoing, where the public interest is more genuinely engaged."

News Group has now been ordered to pay £60,000, although Eady said that no amount of damages can fully compensate Mosley for the damage done and goes on to say: "He (Mosley) is hardly exaggerating when he says that his life was ruined."

London law firm Steeles advised Mosley, with 5 Raymond Buildings' James Price QC instructed as counsel, while Farrer & Co was instructed to advised News Group, with Mark Warby QC, also of 5 Raymond Buildings, instructed as counsel.