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Harry Styles secures anti-pap injunction

By | Published on Tuesday 17 December 2013

Harry Styles

Harry Styles yesterday won an interesting court order that bans the paparazzi from pursuing the One Direction star in the street or creepily waiting outside his home.

Because let’s face it, any tabloid wanting to cover this story already has an entire library of pap shots of Styles to choose from when it comes to photographic accompaniment, including: ‘Harry opens his front door’, ‘Harry closes his front door’, ‘Harry double locks his front door’, ‘Harry walks down the steps in front of his house’, ‘Harry crosses the road to his car’, ‘Harry unlocks his car and gets in’, ‘Harry checks his hair in the wing mirror while he puts the keys in the ignition’, or my personal favourite ‘Harry puts his car into gear’.

I think we can all agree (with perhaps the exception of the Sun’s photo desk) that the world doesn’t need any more pointless pap shots of Harry Styles, which may or may not have been a factor when judge Nicola Davis issued the injunction yesterday.

It’s an interesting court order in that it’s not specifically banning anyone from photographing the 1D star, but puts restrictions on those photographers employing stalker-ish tactics to get that all important ‘Harry pulls out into moving traffic’ shot. It also seems to apply to all and any paps who employ these tactics rather than specifically named photographers, although it is thought four snappers in particular will be identified in due course.

The injunction has the potential to set new precedent with regards how the law can be used to control the paps, although Cheryl Cole and Hugh Grant’s baby-mother Tinglan Hong have both previously secured similar court orders. The Styles injunction bans unnamed photographers from pursuing the singer by car or motorcycle, placing him under surveillance or loitering within 50 metres of his home to monitor his movements.

The boy band star wasn’t in court himself yesterday, but according to The Guardian his lawyer David Sherborne said: “This is not a privacy injunction. Mr Styles is not trying to prevent fans approaching him in the street and taking photos. He remains happy to do that, as he always has. Rather, it is the method or tactics which have been used by a certain type of photographer”.

The current injunction will stand until another court hearing on the matter on 13 Jan. So sorry tabs, no ‘Harry opens front door in his Christmas jumper’ photos for you.



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