Beckhams win London court case against ex-nanny

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LONDON, June 16, 2009 (AFP) - David and Victoria Beckham on Tuesday won an apology from their former nanny at London's High Court for speaking to a newspaper after she quit her job with them.

Abbie Gibson helped care for the Beckhams' two eldest sons, Brooklyn and Romeo, between May 2003 and March 2005 but spoke to the News of the World newspaper for an article in April 2005.

She has now apologised to the Beckhams for disclosing confidential information and withdrawn a claim for constructive dismissal against them lodged in 2005, the couple's lawyer Gerrard Tyrrell told the court.

Gibson "now accepts that she should not have breached her duties of confidence to David and Victoria Beckham and their children by speaking to the News of the World," Tyrrell added.

She has also pledged not to make further public claims about her time working for the couple.

The former nanny also clarified that David Beckham, the LA Galaxy and England football star, had not made insulting and threatening telephone calls to her despite a claim to that effect in The People newspaper in 2005.

The paper has already apologised and paid damages to Beckham over the defamatory allegation.

English law frowns on workers who reveal their employers' secrets, regardless of whether they have signed a separate non-disclosure contract.