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Wayne Rooney 'slept with prostitute while wife Coleen was pregnant'
Wayne Rooney, the England footballer, was unable to prevent the publication of fresh allegations that he slept with a prostitute because he had previously spoken of his shame at paying for sex, it is understood.
By Matthew Moore
Published: 7:07PM BST 05 Sep 2010
Jennifer Thompson who says she had sex with Wayne Rooney while his wife Coleen was pregnant Photo: TIM STEWART
Details of Rooney’s alleged infidelities came to light on Sunday after the Manchester United forward decided not to pursue a super-injunction to suppress the allegations. They included claims that he slept with the prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant.
<!-- BEFORE ACI --> In recent weeks three other England players have successfully obtained gagging orders to prevent the publication of claims about their private lives. The Daily Telegraph understands that Rooney considered applying for a super-injunction on the grounds of privacy.
But the footballer was advised that such any such application would probably fail, because he has previously chosen to share intimate details of his life with the media. In 2004 Rooney spoke publicly of his “regret” at visiting massage parlours and prostitutes as a teenager, insisting that the incidents took place before his relationship with Coleen when he was “very young and immature”.
The Rooneys also sold the photo rights to their 2008 wedding to a glossy magazine for a reported £2.5 million – a fact that would have been considered by any judge considering an application for privacy. The latest allegations, published in the News of the World and Sunday Mirror, centre on a 21-year-old prostitute who claims she had a series of encounters with Rooney, 24, while his wife, also 24, was expecting their first child last year.
Jennifer Thompson, who charges her clients £1,200 a night, claimed that on one occasion the England international invited asked her to come over to his family home for sex, while his wife was away. She says that she rejected the offer out of respect for Coleen, who gave birth to Wayne’s son Kai in November 2009. The Rooneys, who are represented by the same spokesman, declined to comment on the allegations, which are understood to have been circulating among football fans in Manchester for several weeks.
But Max Clifford, the leading celebrity publicist, said that Rooney’s advisers decided not to fight publication despite being made aware in the middle of last week that the tabloid newspapers planned to run the story. He said: “I’m not involved in the case directly, but I understand they wanted to bring an injunction but were told it was unlikely to work. They feared that the fact that Wayne had previously spoken of his shame at sleeping with prostitutes would count against them.”
But experts believe that Rooney’s decision not to block publication will not set a precedent, at a time when increasing numbers of high-profile figures are turning to the courts to suppress negative stories. In addition to the threeEngland footballers, the Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie recently won an injunction against a tabloid newspaper following claims about his private life.
Civil liberties campaigners have accused judges of introducing a privacy law by stealth. Mr Clifford said: “I think Rooney was badly advised. Despite the circumstances of his case, he still had a good chance of obtaining an injunction. Most judges are still very much in favour of privacy.” Rooney is due to fly out to Switzerland today for England's Euro 2012 qualifier on Tuesday.
Football Association sources indicated last night that he was still expected on the plane, and that no decision had been taken about whether his place in the squad would be affected. Rooney starred in England’s 4-0 win over Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday night, but was widely criticised for a lacklustre World Cup.
