BRITAIN:A Liverpool woman who sued the Sunnewspaper for libel over a story that claimed she had sex with England footballer Wayne Rooney when she worked as a prostitute in a Liverpool massage parlour had her case thrown out of court yesterday.
The front-page story had been accompanied by a picture of Patricia Tierney and a headline reading, "Don't Fancy Yours Much, Wayne".
Ms Tierney (52), who has seven children and 16 grandchildren and who stood to win up to £500,000 (€760,000) in damages and costs, claimed she had worked at Divas in Aigburth only as a receptionist. However, new evidence presented to Manchester county court showed she had admitted to police in 2002 that she worked as a prostitute at the massage parlour.
Mr Justice Christopher Clarke rejected her claim, awarded damages against her and said he was referring the case to the director of public prosecutions to see if Ms Tierney should be charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The judge was told that the Sun last week secured from Merseyside police a statement made in 2002 in which Ms Tierney had admitted providing "sexual services" to clients. She had kept the job a secret from her family.
"In light of that statement, it's plain that the central plank of the claimant's case, that she was not and never had been a prostitute and worked only as a receptionist, is not true," he said.
The court had earlier been told that Ms Tierney's legal team, which was working on a no-win no-fee basis, withdrew from the action when they learned of the 2002 statement.
Ms Tierney and her partner, Joe Riley, sat in the well of the court with no papers or files before them. Ms Tierney said she was "begging for her life". Mr Riley said the alleged libel and what had followed was "destroying us, slaughtering us".
"When we received the [ 2002] statement last Wednesday, it was like a complete shock," he told the court. "When she made it, it was on the basis that no one would ever reveal the statement and that it was hidden from me and the kids . . . If she had done what she is supposed to have done in the papers, I wouldn't be here this morning. "