A court has heard that actress Nikki Sanderson’s hair was once set on fire due to a public backlash from media stories linked to alleged phone hacking.
Sanderson said stories suggesting promiscuous meant she was “subjected to both mental and physical abuse” when out.
Former Coronation Street star Sanderson, 39, is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages, claiming journalists at its titles – The Daily and Sunday Mirror and the Sunday People – were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.
Her case is one of four representative claims being heard in London, alongside similar claims brought by the Duke of Sussex – who appeared in court this week – as well as Coronation Street actor Michael Turner, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman.
In her witness statement on Friday, as she began giving evidence, Sanderson said: “When MGN published stories about me insinuating that I was promiscuous, it was very distressing.
Nikki Sanderson’s Hair Ignites Amidst Phone Hacking Drama
“Being made out to be bed-hopping and sleeping with three people in one week, as The Mirror suggested [in a November 2004 piece titled “Nikki’s Fun & Games with Man Utd Star”] was so upsetting as it was so far removed from the truth. The backlash from the public was also very difficult, and I was subjected to mental and physical abuse.
“People would shout at me in the street, calling me a whore, a slag or a slut. People would elbow me, push me, and, one occasion, a group of girls set my hair on fire. This incident happened in a club’s toilets, and the group of girls had been bothering me all night. I had gone to the bathroom alone, and I was washing my hands, and I smelt burning. I looked down, and they had set fire to the back of my hair. Fortunately, I wasn’t wearing any hair products. Otherwise, my hair would have gone up in flames.
Soap actress Nikki Sanderson said her hair was set on fire by a group of girls after Mirror articles painted her as a “stuck up, nasty, party girl”.
In her witness statement, she said, “People would elbow me, push me, and, on one occasion, a group of girls even set my hair on fire. This incident happened in a club’s toilets, and the group of girls had been bothering me all night.
“I had gone to the toilets alone, and I was washing my hands, and I smelt burning. I looked down, and they had set fire to the back of my hair. Fortunately, I wasn’t wearing any hair products. Otherwise, my hair would have gone up in flames.
She added: “It’s because of this narrative created and repeated by MGN that I was stuck up, nasty, rude, promiscuous, and a party girl. It feels like character assassination.”
Actress Nikki Sanderson had told the High Court that Mirror Group journalists “abused” her when she was a “child” as she gave evidence in her claim against the publisher for alleged unlawful information gathering.
Former Coronation Street star Ms Sanderson, 39, is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages, claiming journalists at its titles – The Daily and Sunday Mirror and the Sunday People – were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.
Her case is one of four representative claims being heard in London, alongside similar claims brought by the Duke of Sussex, Coronation Street actor Michael Turner, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman.
MGN says Ms Sanderson’s claim has been brought too late and denies unlawful activity save for four occasions in 2004 and 2005 when its journalists instructed private investigators to obtain information about her.
Prince Harry appeared to cry after hours of gruelling questioning on the second day of his phone hacking trial.
Mirror Phone Hacking Scandal Unveils Nikki Sanderson’s Terrifying Ordeal
The Duke of Sussex, 38, said, “It’s a lot” after he was interrogated for seven hours on the stand on Wednesday (07.06.23) at London’s High Court about his claim against Mirror Group Newspapers, a day after the royal argued he was portrayed in the Press as the “playboy prince” and a “thicko” during his younger years.
Harry seemed to break down after he was asked by his barrister David Sherborne how he had found the experience of giving evidence in the witness box – with the royal pausing before he replied: “It’s a lot” and reportedly fought tears.
Wednesday saw him quizzed over a series of articles, including one on his trip to the strip club Spearmint Rhino, which was featured in a story in 2006.
The duke was again accused of being in the “realm of total speculation” after he was hit with the same accusation on Tuesday by the Mirror Group’s lawyer Andrew Green KC.
