Comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife suffered “completely inhumane” tabloid intrusion during the breakdown of her marriage and when she was battling cancer, she told the High Court.
Fiona Wightman claims a private investigator for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) tried to “blag” her private medical details when she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
She said she felt “totally invaded and confused” as journalists went to the home of her elderly parents in search of a story.
“The idea that somebody thought ‘there is a young woman with cancer who happens to bemarried to someone famous, we deserve to know about this and see if we can get astory about this’ is really indefensible”, Ms Wightman said in a statement to the High Court.
Ms Wightman said she is not famous like her ex-husband, she did not attend premieres, and shunned the spotlight.
Her comedian husband had an affair with a costume designer who fell pregnant, leading to a separation in September 2000. However, Ms Wightman said she remained good friends with Whitehouse after the end of their marriage.
Ms Wightman is suing MGN alongside Prince Harry and soap stars Michael Le Vell and Nikki Sanderson, alleging she was subjected to privacy breaches through phone hacking and unlawful newsgathering.
She said it was “jaw dropping” to read the articles she complains are the result of unlawful activity, telling the court: “I find it absolutely extraordinary to know now that MGN’s journalists would have been listening to my messages.
“It still really shocks me, because of everything I was going through. I was young, I had ovarian cancer, and the prognosis for ovarian cancer then was awful.
“I was dealing with infertility. My husband had an affair. It sounds like a tragedy. I am not a tragedy, but I was dealing with such incredibly difficult, painful things.
“For someone to have listened to my messages and thought ‘there is a greatstory here’ is just awful. I was absolutely reeling from everything I was dealing with. It was so private.”
Detailing an alleged ‘blagging’ incident in 1997, she said her cancer surgeon received a phone call from someone posing as a worker at a different hospital, asking for details of the treatment she was receiving.
The surgeon did not disclose any information and called Ms Wightman to check on her, discovering the hospital’s request for details was bogus.
Invoices for payments to a private investigator are now relying on in Ms Wightman’s case, as alleged evidence of unlawful activity.
“I couldn’t understand how somebody else could pretend like that with my doctor or who would do such a thing”, said Ms Wightman.
“It was deeply shocking to see the invoices and finally understand who it had been that had called my doctor’s secretary, it’s completely inhumane.”
Fast Show comedian Whitehouse, in his statement to the court, said the couple – who remain on good terms after the split – shared “very private” information on their family, health, travel plans, and finances on voicemails.
He recalls being approached by a journalist while on the school run with his ten-year-old daughter.
And he told the court: “It is deeply upsetting to Fiona to now know that that they were digging around into her personal and private health grief. It’s hard to put into words really, it’s sick.”
MGN has admitted using a private investigator unlawfully on six occasions, although it denies any voicemail interception of Ms Wightman.
Andrew Green KC, for MGN, earlier told the court the company "unreservedly apologises" for the unlawful activity against her, adding that it "shouldn’t have happened and it won’t again".
The trial continues.
