So, Max Mosley has been awarded £60,000 in compensatory damages from the NOTW – plus they get to pay his estimated £450,000 in legal fees.

But was it worth it and what does this mean for the future of investigative journalism? Assessing it from a purely PR standpoint I question his motive. He has stated that the public shaming his family went through had been “totally devastating” and “humiliating” yet he chose to prolong it. The story itself was hugely salacious – and the associated video gave it added public interest and sauciness – the court case has simply retained the story in the public arena.

The ruling itself only denies any Nazi involvement (clearly a sore point given his father was Oswald Mosley) as he has never denied taking part in the act.

My advice, particularly given that his employers allowed him to continue in his role as president of the International Automobile Federation, would have been to protect his family as much as possible, issue a statement denying the Nazi element and then carry on as normal – although a pre-publication injunction would have been a first step. The story would have blown over and been a cause of mere gossip and tittle tattle in the future – something that hasn’t changed despite the court ruling.

The media fallout is less clear. Mark Borkowski heralds it a welcome opportunity for publicists but questions whether it will become misused. My own opinion is that his role as head of Formula 1’s governing body didn’t make his sex life – however interesting – public property and that the investigation and resulting story was done simply for sensationalism. I would hope that true investigative journalism is a little more public-spirited and groundbreaking than poking into people’s private affairs.

So, if Max Mosley being caught with his trousers down means we all get to enjoy our Sunday morning coffee without being blasted by sordid sex allegations of then I for one welcome the ruling.

Long live serious and meaningful media investigation and let’s leave people’s consensual sex lives to themselves.

PS In a nod to Simon Collister I’ll let you know how much extra traffic has visited this post due to the title…