Ryan Giggs consents to the lifting of the anonymity part of privacy injunction.

The original injunction granted in April 2011 prevented the publication of details of an alleged extra-marital affair and the identification of the footballer.  Ryan Giggs sought the injunction after the sun newspaper ran an article about an unnamed footballer having an affair with a model.  The anonymity element of the injunction has now been lifted by agreement.  The remainder of the privacy injunction remains in force.

Mr Giggs' barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC told the High Court that his client was claiming damages from the sun for the subsequent re-publication of information in other newspapers and on the internet.  "He has suffered damage and distress by the chain of events that has been set off by the publication of the article in The sun," said Mr Tomlinson.  He explained that the sun article had "generated a large media storm" and that the damages claim was about "providing effective protection" for Mr Giggs's right to privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Tugendhat J has reserved judgment on whether Mr Giggs' claim for misuse of private information should be allowed to proceed to trial.

The original anonymised injunction attracted considerable exposure last year when Mr Giggs was identified on Twitter and in parliament.  The injunction was not however a "super injunction", which is a term used to describe an injunction which cannot have its existence reported.