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Friday, December 2, 2011

Mother of Hugh Grant's child deters paparazzi through legal action

High court order 'worked immediately' after Tinglan Hong complained of constant pursuit of photographers

Hugh Grant
 
Hugh Grant had pleaded with photographers besieging the home to leave. Photograph: Pool/Reuters
The mother of Hugh Grant's baby is now free of the "unbearable" harassment by the paparazzi, the high court has heard.

A court order injunction preventing unnamed photographers from camping outside Tinglan Hong's house or pursuing her going about her daily life had "worked immediately", her barrister told the high court in London on Friday.

He secured the injunction last month after Hong complained her life had been made unbearable by the constant pursuit of photographers and incessant calls and texts from journalists about the birth of the child, which the parents had tried to keep private.


Granting a continuation of the order, Justice Tugendhat asked Hong's counsel, David Sherborne: "Did the order work?" Sherborne replied: "It did. It worked immediately."

When he granted the original order the judge heard that on some occasions as many as 10 or more people were camped outside her house in recent weeks, staying all night even in the rain, in the hope of getting a picture.

Hong's mother was also being pursued – on one occasion a photographer chased her down the street in his car. He appeared to be swearing and she was "really frightened".

Grant even pleaded with photographers besieging the home of Hong asking them to "leave a new and frightened young mother in peace".

The order forbidding harassment by the unnamed photographers has now been continued indefinitely.

The couple did their best to keep private the birth of the child and say they do not know how it got out.

The Guardian

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