Lord Carey: F1 Mosley ruling threatens public morality

LONDON - The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, has warned that the legal victory for Formula One boss Max Mosley could endanger freedom of speech in Britain as well as the public morality.

The comments from Lord Carey follow last Thursday's High Court victory for Mosley, 68, who was awarded £60,000 in damages from the News of the World. The Court ruled that the tabloid newspaper had breached his privacy by reporting details of a "German-themed" sex session with five prostitutes.

However, Lord Carey issued a warning: "The first major victim is free speech. Without public debate or democratic scrutiny, the courts have created a wholly new privacy law. In itself that's bad enough.

"But, as a Christian leader, I am deeply sad that public morality is the second victim of this legal judgement.

"Unspeakable and indecent behaviour, whether in public or in private, is no longer significant under this ruling."

The former head of the 77-million member worldwide Anglican Communion from 1991-2002, also complained that modern-day "scandalous behaviour" no longer carried consequences.

Following his victory, motor racing chief Mosley said he was considering taking libel and legal action against media outlets across Europe that also reported he had taken part in a sado-masochistic orgy.

In an interview with Britain's Sunday Telegraph, the president of Formula One's governing body said he now intended to sue the News of the World for libel and was also pursuing legal action against media organisations, notably in France, Germany and Italy for publishing intrusive photographs without his consent.

"I feel very strongly that some newspapers literally ruin people's lives and more has to be done to stop this," he told the Sunday Telegraph.

The News of the World's story, published in March, claimed Mosley, son of Britain's 1930s fascist leader Oswald Mosley, had taken part in a "sick Nazi orgy".

The story gained worldwide attention, and Mosley faced pressure to quit his job. However he held on after winning a confidence vote at an extraordinary general assembly of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

In court, Mosley revealed that his wife of 48 years had had no idea about his long time sado-masochistic fetish. He said he had frequently paid thousands of pounds a time to have prostitutes beat, whip and humiliate him.

The court backed his assertion that there had been no Nazi element to the orgy publicised in the paper, whilst the woman who filmed it also agreed there had been no such overtones.

In its editorial on Sunday, the News of the World argued the public had a right to know about Mosley's behaviour because of his role with the FIA.

That view received the backing of Lord George Carey, who said the case had set a "dangerous precedent" for free speech and public morality.

"In the past a public figure has known that scandalous and immoral behaviour carries serious consequences for his or her public profile, reputation and job," Carey wrote in an article for the News of the World.

He added: "Today it is possible to have your cake and eat it."