Nikki Sanderson had ‘hair set on hearth’ after tabloids ‘painted her as promiscuous’, Prince Harry hacking trial advised

Soap star Nikki Sanderson suffered abuse as a younger girl over tabloid tales insinuating she was “promiscuous”, the High Court has heard – together with individuals “screaming insults” and one incident when her hair was “set on fire”.

The actress, who now stars in Hollyoaks however rose to fame as a youngster when she landed the function of Candice Stowe in Coronation Street in 1999, adopted Prince Harry within the witness field to offer proof in opposition to Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the writer of the Daily Mirror.

Answering cross-examination questions on Friday, Ms Sanderson, 39, at one level grew to become emotional and stated reliving particulars of tales written about her had been “traumatic”.

She additionally accused MGN of “gaslighting” of their denial of her allegations.

Mirror hacking allegations court case – as it happened

It is alleged that journalists at MGN titles – which additionally embody the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People – have been linked to strategies together with telephone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining info by deception, and the usage of non-public investigators for illegal actions.

Ms Sanderson, who starred in Coronation Street from 1999 to 2005, alleges the data in some 37 articles, printed between 2003 and 2009, was obtained via types of illegal info gathering.

MGN says her declare has been introduced too late and denies illegal exercise save for 4 events in 2004 and 2005, when its journalists instructed non-public investigators to acquire details about her.

Writing in regards to the affect tabloid intrusion had on her life in a witness assertion, Ms Sanderson described “stories insinuating that I was promiscuous” as “very distressing”.

One story made her out to be “bed-hopping and sleeping with three people in one week”, she stated, which was “so far removed from the truth” – however the strains between her and her TV cleaning soap character had been “blurred”.

Key factors from witness statements

• Statements from Nikki Sanderson’s mum, ex-boyfriend, and actress Tina O’Brien have additionally been submitted in help of her case
• Coronation Street star Ms O’Brien compares media curiosity to “toxic relationship”
• Ms Sanderson’s mum tells how her daughter grew to become paranoid and “lost some of her sparkle”
• Ex-partner Danny Young, who additionally starred in Corrie, says being a well-known actor “is not all it’s cracked up to be”

‘People would elbow me, push me’

Describing “the backlash” from the general public, Ms Sanderson wrote: “I was subjected to both mental and physical abuse.

“People would shout at me on the street, calling me a whore, a slag or a slut.

“People would elbow me, push me and, on one occasion, a group of girls even set my hair on fire.”

This occurred in a nightclub rest room, she stated.

Ms Sanderson stated: “I was washing my hands and I smelt burning. I looked down and they had set fire to the back of my hair.”

She additionally described one other event when she felt compelled to barricade herself in a bathroom at a bowling alley after being threatened by a gaggle of women.

“This kind of thing was constant,” she stated.

‘Like serial killer dramas’

In her assertion, Ms Sanderson recollects paparazzi photographers following her to take footage whereas she was on vacation, describing their actions as “creepy, like those things you see on serial killer dramas”.

She additionally criticises MGN for “hiring random men to follow” her.

“I was a young girl at the time… they could have done anything to me,” she wrote.

In court docket, she stated she felt like she couldn’t “go places without someone watching”.

Ms Sanderson claims MGN’s alleged “illegal activities” have had a “huge impact” on her life and left her paranoid about sharing info, even with family and friends.

At one level, she suspected a Coronation Street press officer of leaking details about her, she wrote in her witness assertion – one thing she feels “awful” about now.

Read extra on the case in opposition to MGN:
Ex-Mirror royal correspondent gives evidence
Harry’s moment in court is over – was he or the King right?

‘I stated that and I stand by that’

She makes use of the phrase “abuse” a number of occasions all through her assertion, saying on the finish that she doesn’t achieve this flippantly.

“These people were in positions of power,” she wrote. “I was attacked by people who were more powerful than me.”

“I said that and I stand by that,” she advised Andrew Green KC, who’s representing MGN in court docket.

Asked by Mr Green about this a part of her assertion in court docket, the actress replied: “The behaviour has been horrific, the gaslighting I feel has gone on with me. The fact that I’m having to do this today is traumatic.”

Mr Green then requested the actress: “If you consider your treatment by MGN to be tantamount to child abuse… why were you giving an interview to the Daily Mirror in 2019?”

Ms Sanderson stated it was a deliberate piece for Valentine’s Day and later advised the court docket there was a distinction with ready interviews which have been underneath her “control”.

Mr Green confirmed the court docket situations the place Ms Sanderson would willingly communicate to the media.

He stated that, “entirely fairly”, the actress wanted media publicity “in order to continue to promote” her profession.

He additionally confirmed the court docket options together with one exhibiting Ms Sanderson posing in lingerie for a males’s journal.

In her witness assertion, Ms Sanderson stated it was not “fair” and added “insult to injury” for MGN to depend on press tales and picture shoots she consented to.

Working on a TV cleaning soap you “have an obligation to do certain interviews, television programmes and photoshoots”, she wrote.

“There is a massive difference between something you are aware of and in control of versus the defendant hacking into my voicemail messages against my will or hiring people to follow me and take photographs of me.”

Evidence is ‘weak’, MGN argues

Ms Sanderson’s barrister David Sherborne beforehand advised the court docket that the actress solely grew to become conscious she had a possible declare in opposition to MGN after chatting along with her Hollyoaks co-star Gary Lucy.

The actress had suspected mates, individuals engaged on Coronation Street, and members of the general public of promoting tales about her, and subsequently “didn’t suspect unlawful methods being used” till she spoke to Mr Lucy about it in 2019, Mr Sherborne stated.

In response on Friday, Mr Green advised the court docket that the proof in Ms Sanderson’s case is “weak” and MGN does “not accept that it establishes a case of voicemail interception” nor that it exhibits “systemic hacking” of her telephone.

Read extra:
The people named in Harry’s witness statement
Harry’s evidence – watch reconstructions of key moments

The writer has denied that 35 of the 37 articles concerned telephone hacking or illegal info gathering, with one article being not admitted.

MGN has stated Ms Sanderson’s declare has been introduced too late, however “unreservedly apologises” over 4 funds made to non-public investigators which it admits are proof of directions to unlawfully acquire her non-public info.

Prince Harry and Ms Sanderson are two of 4 consultant claimants whose proof in opposition to MGN is being heard on the High Court, alongside Coronation Street actor Michael Turner, identified professionally as Michael Le Vell, and comic Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman.