Vanessa Bryant, right, has been awarded $16 million in damages ©Getty Images

Kobe Bryant's widow, Vanessa, has been awarded $16 million (£13.5 million/€15.9 million) in damages after graphic photos of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed the double Olympic champion and his daughter were leaked.

A California jury returned a unanimous verdict which agreed with Vanessa Bryant that the sheriff deputies and firefighters taking and sharing photos of the crash victims invaded her privacy and brought her emotional distress.

"I bolted out of the house and I ran to the side of the house so the girls couldn't see me," Bryant said in court about when she read a Los Angeles Times report detailing the Los Angeles County employees' actions.

"I wanted to run… down the block and just scream.

"I live in fear every day of being on social media and these popping up.

"I live in fear of my daughters being on social media and these popping up.

"I don't ever want to see these photographs.

"I want to remember my husband and my daughter the way they were."

Bryant’s co-plaintiff, Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter were also among the nine people killed in the crash, was separately awarded $15 million (£12.6 million/€15 million).

Kobe Bryant won Olympic gold medals with the United States men's basketball team at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 ©Getty Images
Kobe Bryant won Olympic gold medals with the United States men's basketball team at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 ©Getty Images

In March 2021, Bryant sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for negligence and invasion of privacy.

Last November, the county agreed to pay $2.5 million (£2.1 million/€2.5 million) over the emotional distress caused to two other families who lost relatives in the crash - but Bryant refused to settle.

In court it was alleged that at least eight officers took pictures of the crash site and that one took between 25 and 100 photos.

California now has a state law prohibiting first responders from taking unauthorised pictures of people who died at the scene of an accident or crime.

Kobe Bryant was part of the United States' gold medal-winning teams that triumphed in the men's basketball tournaments at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games.

He was due to be involved in the Athens 2004 campaign but was forced to miss out after his arrest in the summer of 2003 and subsequently being charged with sexual assault.

The case was eventually settled out of court with Bryant apologising to his accuser, the public, and her family, while also denying the allegations.

Bryant won five National Basketball Association (NBA) titles and was an 18-time NBA All-Star.

At the time of his death, Bryant was 41.