Police state: London helicopter police’s turbulent Tweet

Monday 20 July 2015

Scotland Yard has defended a picture tweeted by a police helicopter team which appears to show comedian Michael McIntyre standing in a London street.

The ground operations director for the NPAS, Superintendent Richard Watson, said: “We are aware of the tweet and, as far as we are aware, it does not breach any data protection legislation. We feel however it was inappropriate and it has since been removed.”

Following the shocking revelations surrounding the News of the World and the resulting Leveson Inquiry in recent times it seems a rather short-sighted Tweet by the National Police Air.

But what does the law have to say on the matter?

Although there is no express right to privacy under English law, and therefore no civil action available, there are a number of rights that do relate to privacy which arise from the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). The majority of privacy cases are fought at the pre-publication stage. A celebrity usually finds out about a threatened publication and seeks an injunction to prevent it. The injunction can also restrict reporting of the court proceedings with players commonly anonymised. If publication of the information has taken place, the celebrity can seek damages retrospectively through the courts. The judge will have to conduct a balancing exercise to decide whether HRA Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) or HRA Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) will prevail.

Defendants often quote HRA Article 10, which provides a right to freedom of expression. However, this is not a carte blanche to print or do whatever they like when it comes to well-known celebrities and when the mark is considered overstepped there can be serious consequences.

HRA Article 8 provides individuals with a right to respect for private and family life, and a crucial test for breach of privacy is generally that of whether publication is in the ‘public interest’. What this means is that the breach of privacy or publication of personal activity should be of legitimate importance to the general public.

Injunctions to prevent publication of intrusive stories can be obtained but, as widespread contravention of a so-called super-injunction in the case of Ryan Giggs proved, the power of the internet means that keeping the cat in the bag is often impossible. In the case of Michael McIntyre there was no way he could have brought an injunction as the Tweet was made without his knowledge.

For the reasons discussed, complaining to the Press Complaints Commission and taking legal action for Breach of Privacy is perhaps the best current course open to celebrities who feel posters have stepped over the line.